Shadow: The Beginning
by Hushed Dreamer
Summary: Shadow the Hedgehog wasn't always so...Shadow. Although it may not seem like it, what with his many misadventures with Maria such as blowing up the kitchen or pulling pranks, who couldn't say Shadow didn't live a happy life before?
1. Happy Birthday!

**A/N: **Hi everybody! Uh...yeah, I uploaded this fic a long time ago and then I deleted it. It wasn't until a few weeks ago that I realized that this wasn't deleted forever, and was actually saved in my old USB drive which made me happy! :)

I don't really expect much attention for this, but I will be updating this either every week or every other week, depends if I can come up with something for another chapter. It would be even better if I thought up an exact plot for this story by chapter 9 which is actually my goal. But for now I'm not going to worry about that since I'm only picking this up again so I can get my creative juices flowing. I lost my imagination and I need to get it back! :(

Oh yeah, Disclaimer...You guys already know I don't own any characters by SEGA right? If I did I wouldn't be here.

Update 12/23/12: Oh, I changed the cover for the story. Note that I do not own the picture, it's a stock photo. All I did was make minor changes to it and placed the title of the story on the lower bottom. Yes, do you can do that with stock photos. No, I did not get that from Deviant Art.

* * *

**Chapter 1: Happy Birthday! **

"Good Morning Maria!"

Maria opened her eyes and closed them again before pulling the sheets over her head and rolling over. She felt somebody poke at her and threw the sheets off her head, annoyed before sitting up and turning around only to come face to face with a big white cake with light blue roses decorating it all over and a big '12' written on it with icing.

"What?" Maria began before looking up. An elderly man smiled at her, his orange hair was graying and his eyes gleamed behind his big round glasses. Maria smiled and took the cake into her hands.

"Happy Birthday Maria, my sweet little angel." Dr. Gerald Robotnik sang as he sat on the edge of her bed. Maria dug her finger into the cake and scoped up some of the icing before licking it off her fingers. She then smiled sadly and looked down at the cake.

"What's wrong Maria?" Gerald asked, panicked. His smile disappeared and was replaced by a frown.

"Nothing…It's just that…" Maria began before looking out the window into the deep void of space. She could see a big blue planet in the distance; her home planet. That was _home._ Home was where here her friends, her parents, her aunts, uncles and cousins were. She hadn't seen them in two whole years. Not after her diagnosis. Gerald had decided to take her with him to 'prolong her existence', insisting that she was only going to get sicker if she stayed on the planet and that she would be much better off on the Space Colony Ark. And yes, she was better off on the Ark. She had felt better after her first week on the ship and she hadn't fallen gravely ill since.

"I know Maria. Don't worry. I assure you that you're parents will visit soon." Gerald assured before getting up, leaning over, and kissing Maria on the forehead. "Sorry sweetheart but I can't spend the day with you today. I have to continue working on the project." Gerald said before leaving Maria's room, closing the door behind him. Maria sighed.

"_It's been months already! Will he ever be finished?" _she thought before getting out of bed, placing the cake on the white bedside table next to her. She then stood up. Her feet slapped onto the cold white tile floor and Maria couldn't help but feel depressed as she look around her room. It was huge and lacked furniture. The only things in her room were her bed, the two bedside tables, and a small white desk in one corner with a white chair tucked inside and a few shelves. There was a blue are rug in the middle and a blue dolphin mobile hanging overhead, providing the only color in the room.

"This is just depressing…" Maria mumbled as she walked into the bathroom. She brushed her teeth, took a shower, got dressed and immediately walked out into the gray halls. Her shoes clicked underneath her as she walked and she felt instantly bored.

"Happy Birthday!"

Maria quickly turned around to see a young boy, about two years younger than her with pale brown hair running up to her. The boy had different eyes which at first, surprised Maria every time she saw him and now she was so used to it, it hardly bothered her anymore. His left eye was emerald green and his right one was light brown.

"My dad's been acting really weird you know. He says he's guarding the room your grandpa is working in. And I just peeked in there while he wasn't looking and something really weird and freaky is going on in there. I heard they're working on something called _Project Shadow_." The boy informed. Maria only stared at him.

"Yeah I know. Grandpa told me that it's really important research." Maria replied as she began walking again, the boy following after her.

"Maria…don't you want to go check it out?"

Maria turned around and glared at him.

"Anthony you know better than to go snooping around the research labs. That's very dangerous stuff!" Maria exclaimed. Anthony frowned and placed his hands behind his back.

"Okay! Sorry!" he mumbled. The lights overhead then began to flicker and soon the whole hallway is dark.

"AH!"

"Anthony let go!" Maria screamed. She felt his arms wrap tightly around her and even tighter when she told him to let go. Maria sighed. Poor kid couldn't help it. They both continued walking down the hall which was illuminated by the dim sunlight pouring in from the seemingly never ending window outside. The window stretched throughout the hallway, giving a pretty awesome view of the space outside so Maria loved to hang out in that particular hallway because if she was lucky, she'd be able to see any meteor showers or comets passing by.

Soon they reached the end of the hallway and both children stood there in silence, each looking at the other.

"Um…the lights should be turning back on any second right?" Anthony asked nervously.

"Um…"

The lights overhead then dimmed and slowly flickered back on. Anthony let go of Maria and blushed.

"Sorry!"

"It's okay." Maria assured as she continued walking as Anthony bounced around her, the lights still flickering.

"You know, I think the power went out because of that weird project your grandpa was working on." Anthony stated. Maria shrugged.

"I don't know…"

"Hey…bet ya can't catch me!" Anthony suddenly said as he tagged Maria on the arm and began running like crazy down the hall.

"Hey!" Maria shouted as she began running after him. "No fair!" she screamed. Anthony laughed as Maria continued running after him. He then reached the end of the next corridor and jumped into the open elevator, immediately pushing a button on the control panel as he watched Maria run towards him.

"Anthony!" she yelled. Anthony laughed as the elevator began going up. Maria stood below him, looking up. "Cheater!" she yelled, smiling.

"Maria!"

Maria turned around and watched as a young woman, around her early twenties walked up to her. Her ebony hair was tied up into a ponytail and her dark green eyes were hidden behind her glasses. She had on a long white coat and red heels. Maria smiled at her and ran over to her. She hugged her and the woman hugged back.

"Hi Miracle!" Maria greeted happily.

"Hi honey. I got you something."

Maria pushed away from Miracle as she held up a small silver locket. Maria smiled and took it from her.

"Wow! Thanks Miracle!" Maria exclaimed happily. Miracle smiled.

"It took me forever to convince your grandfather to let me go back home and get you something. I thought you'd like it." Miracle explained as she helped Maria put it on.

"MARIA!" Anthony screamed as the elevator went back down. Maria and Miracle looked up as Anthony jumped down from the elevator and ran up to them. He grabbed Maria's wrist and pulled her away from Miracle.

"Sorry Miracle! See you later!" Anthony shouted as he led Maria onto the elevator. Maria snatched her wrist away as Anthony pushed the up button. The elevator slowly began going up as Anthony turned to her.

"What's wrong with you?"

"You got to see what your grandpa was working on!" Anthony exclaimed. Maria crossed her arms over her chest.

"You went snooping around again?" Maria asked angrily.

"I didn't mean too! I was running down the hall when I realized my dad left his post, I looked into the room and saw something that will even freak _you_ out!" Anthony said frantically. Maria only stared at him. Nothing usually freaked her out. But Anthony freaked out over almost anything.

"Project Shadow?" Maria asked. Anthony nodded as the elevator came to a stop. He grabbed her wrist and dragged her off the elevator and down the hall. They stopped in front of a gray metal door and peeked into the small window bolted onto the middle of the door. A curtain was covering something in the middle of the room and there was no sign of anybody in there. Anthony pushed the door open and led Maria inside. They both looked around.

"What is it Anthony?" Maria asked as she walked around the room. There were lab tables and beakers on one side of the room, a huge computer in the middle and the rest of the wall was all glass. Anthony bit his fingers.

"It must be behind that curtain!" Anthony cried, pointing over to the curtain. Maria walked over to the curtain and grabbed it with both hands.

"You mean behind _here_?" Maria asked as she tugged the curtain down. She then gasped when she saw a small capsule, filled with green liquid, and tubes. But what surprised her more was the black and red hedgehog inside.

"SEE? THAT'S WHAT I MEAN!" Anthony screamed as he slammed his hands down on the computer panel. A robotic voice then sounded over the intercom as red lights flashed on and off and the liquid drained out of the capsule. The tubes detached from the hedgehog

_RELEASING SPECIMEN_

"Oh crud…" Anthony gasped under his breath.

"What are you two doing?"

Maria and Anthony turned to the door to see Gerald standing at the doorway, behind him was Miracle and a few other men and women in white lab coats and two guards.

"Um…." Maria bit her lip. She then turned to the capsule as the glass opened up. The hedgehog opened his eyes, revealing red irises.

"Now that you two are here, I'd like you two to officially meet Shadow aka Project Shadow." Gerald introduced. Maria turned to Shadow and waved at him.

"Happy Birthday Shadow…" Maria said nervously.

"Don't talk to it!" Anthony shouted.

"Maria, Anthony, OUT! Young lady you are grounded! As for you Anthony, you're father will decide your punishment…" Gerald growled as he walked over to the computer panel. Maria and Anthony quickly ran out of the room, leaving Gerald and the other scientists behind.

"That was freaky!" Anthony shouted. "Did you see its eyes?"

"Oh quiet Anthony. It was _not_ freaky and _his_ eyes were cool. Oh, and I'd like to thank you for getting my grounded on my _birthday!_" Maria growled as she stepped onto the elevator, leaving him behind.

* * *

**A/N: **So what do you guys think? I'm going to be updating this by Saturday at the latest. Oh, and Anthony is the G.U.N commander from 'Shadow the Hedgehog' game. I don't think they ever mentioned his name before, but if somebody does know his name, then please tell me it. Thanks :3


	2. Innocence

**A/N: **Well here's the next chapter. I'd like to thank everybody who reviewed, faved and/or alerted. I really appreciate it and you guys rock! :)

Like I said before, this story was originally saved in my USB drive and when I first published it I only made it to two chapters before deleting it, so I don't have anymore saved after this. Which means that I won't update as quickly as I have this week because it'll take a while to write another chapter. I would have waited until Friday to update this, but I decided to update today since I have to work on a chapter for another fanfic of mine.

Anyway, enjoy :)

* * *

**Chapter 2: Innocence**

Maria sighed as she pressed her back against the wall and hugged her legs, bringing her knees to her chin. She looked outside her window, gazing at the distant stars and the black nothingness of space. A whole week had passed since she was first grounded, and her grandfather still hadn't lifted her punishment. So she had been stuck in her room, day in and day out, only leaving to take a walk or to go get something to eat.

She had been sitting silently in her room for a while, and she was starting to doze off when she heard a soft knock on the door. Maria ignored it however and continued to gaze out the window. A minute passed and the door opened. She quickly turned to see Anthony standing in the door way with his hands behind his back. And here she thought she had locked the door so nobody would get in, apparently it wasn't locked at all the whole time.

"Hey…" Anthony greeted nervously.

"Hmmm…" Maria hummed as she straightened up. Anthony took a deep breath before exhaling and smiled.

"Do you want to sneak out?" he asked. Maria shot him a look. Why was it that Anthony always found a way to get her in trouble? It was true that his adventurous ways made her stay on the ARK less boring, but she didn't like being grounded on a regular basis. Anthony dropped his smiled and frowned as he turned his attention to his feet to avoid her piercing glare.

"I take that as a 'no'?"

"I'm _grounded. _There's no way I'm going to sneak out." Maria replied. Anthony looked back up to her.

"Maria, come on! It's boring without you." Anthony begged as he clapped his hands together. He gave her the puppy-dog look and Maria only stared at him blankly. She folded her legs beneath her and crossed her arms over her chest.

"No!"

"Maria!"

"No."

"Come on!"

"No."

"Please?"

I _said _no!"

"Maria…please?" Anthony whimpered as he continued to give her the look, while Maria continued staring at him passively.

Considering the fact that they were the only two children aboard the ARK, she supposed he _would _be pretty bored after being all by himself the whole week without anybody to keep him company. Yeah his father grounded him, but his punishment was lifted a few days early for being 'a good boy'. Finally Maria sighed and pushed herself off her bed, finally giving in.

"Fine…"

Anthony smiled as she walked over to the door and once she was closed enough to him, he grabbed her by the wrist and dragged her out of her room and down the hall. Maria had to practically run to keep up with his pace.

"Wait, where are you taking me?" Maria asked.

"I have something to show you!"

"What is it?"

"You'll see." Anthony replied.

* * *

"Doctor, how do you know he's immortal exactly?" a bald headed man with thick eyeglasses, wearing a white lab coat, black pants, and black shoes asked. Gerald turned to him as they walked down a long corridor with doors lining either side.

"I…can't exactly explain. I will later, but for now you should be satisfied with the fact that I have excelled in my research and may possibly find a way to cure my granddaughter of her disease in a few more years or so." Gerald answered.

"Of course the research isn't only for your granddaughter."

"Oh no, Dr. Calvin! If I do successfully find a way to rid her of that dreaded illness of hers, I will see to it that every person who has the disease and others like it will be rid of it." Gerald quickly replied as they stopped in front of a door. A small window on said door provided a view into the room.

"Have you considered the fact that maybe he…" Dr. Calvin began again before Gerald interrupted him.

"Has a conscience?"

"Well…yes."

"He has shown proof of that, and to tell you the truth, even though I created him and I'm a hundred percent sure he's immortal, I couldn't exactly tell the past week if he even has any…"

"Yes, I understand." Dr. Calvin said, side glancing over to Gerald. "I get the point. Have you even considered letting it explore the ARK?" Dr. Calvin asked as he peeked into the room through the window.

"_He. _Calvin. It's a _he._" Gerald said irritably before Calvin gasped. "What is it?"

"He's gone!" Dr. Calvin exclaimed.

"What?" Gerald pushed him and peeked into the room through the window. His eyes darted around the room and his cursed under his breath as he quickly opened the door. Both scientists then rushed into the room and looked around. The room was completely empty of furniture, and only a bowl of food and water in the corner of the room decorated the empty space, though it wasn't an entirely depressing site since one wall was made entirely of glass and gave a great view of the empty void of space.

"Up there!" Dr. Calvin cried as he pointed up to the ceiling. Gerald looked up to what he was pointing to see an air duct bit enough for an adult to fit into had been opened.

"I should have known…" Gerald mumbled as Dr. Calvin turned to him.

"We have to find it!" he said, panicked. Gerald shook his head.

"He's harmless…for now. We've only continued to conduct more research this week since he was let out too early. Next week he'll begin his training. By the second week he'll finally be considered-"

"Dangerous?"

"No exactly. No, I wouldn't say dangerous."

"Why exactly are you planning on training him Gerald? I thought you said you created it to help your granddaughter." Dr. Calvin asked curiously. Gerald didn't answer as he looked out the window. It was silent for a few minutes and at some point Dr. Calvin was starting to get annoyed. "Well hurry up man! We have to notify the guards and search for it!" Dr. Calvin exclaimed as he held his head. Gerald only chuckled as he turned back to look at his fellow scientist.

"_He_ is harmless. I assure you that he is. I'll notify the guards, but they won't do a _thing. _I'm just going to ask them to observe his behavior." Gerald explained.

"If something happens…" Dr. Calvin began his tone grave.

"Nothing will happe!" Gerald reassured calmly as he ushered Calvin out of the room.

* * *

He couldn't stand it anymore. The guards were staring at him with shocked expressions, and the weapons they held tightly against their chests somewhat intimidated him, but _they_ were scared. Whenever somebody saw him, they'd stop what they were doing and press themselves against the wall. He honestly didn't know what was wrong with him. He then stopped and looked out one of the many windows in the hallway. He could see his reflection in it. He looked like…well...he looked _normal_ to himself, but maybe everybody else's idea of normal was different.

He raised his arm up and then put it back down and his reflection did the same thing. He then put his arm back down to his side and raised both hands up, wiggling his fingers as he watched his reflection do the same thing. He then frowned and glared at his reflection. He stuck his tongue out and then sucked it back in.

"_Why is it copying me?"_ he thought to himself as he pulled at his ears. He then stopped as he felt a sharp pain. His ears burned and he soon realized that he had tugged his ears to hard. Pain was a new thing to him, he didn't like it, but even the thought of pain seemed oddly fascinating to him.

He turned and continued walking down the hall. He found the ARK, as he heard the place be called before, interesting. He'd been stuck in the room where he had been 'born' for the past week, and hadn't been able to explore the ARK by himself at all until now. Now that he thought back to that day, he couldn't help but remember the feeling that first came to him when he first opened his eyes: shock.

And then he couldn't help but remember the shocked expressions on everybody's faces, and also the two shorter humans that were in the room. He found one of the shorter ones to be pleasant, and the other one kind of annoying and rude.

_"Happy Birthday Shadow!" _the pleasant one had said.

_"Don't talk to it!" _the other one yelled.

He then remembered what the doctor had first said to him after the two left the room.

_"Welcome to the world Shadow."_

He sounded nice enough, but the others behind him looked at him with uncertainty and kept their distance. He found them to be very...hurtful. All the emotions he had endured the past week were shocking to him. And he also found hunger, boredom, tiredness, frustration, and fear to be very distressing. He remembered the doctor's smile and he felt warmth go through him whenever he saw that smile. When he had asked about the warmth he felt, Gerald told him that it was probably happiness or affection. He'd been told that Gerald had created him although for what exactly, he still wasn't sure.

He continued down the hallway of the ARK, staring out the window when he felt something weird inside of his stomach and heard a loud growl. He looked down to his stomach.

"_I'm hungry!" _Shadow thought as he suddenly stopped. _"But I don't want to eat whatever that stuff is!_" he thought to himself.

The food that the humans had given him the past week was the same, although sometimes they'd be in different colors. For breakfast they'd give him some cereal, at least that was what they had told him it was called. They'd be little yellow balls or small multicolored hoops. Sometimes they'd be yellow and brown; they'd give him some orange liquid that the people who fed him called 'orange Juice'. He found the orange juice delicious, but he couldn't stand the cereal. And for lunch they'd feed him colored water. 'Soup' that was what they told him it was called and also water. For dinner, they'd feed him granola and a glass of water.

He groaned to himself as he continued down the corridor and ignored the shocked looks on the guard's faces when he saw two familiar humans running past him around the corner.

"Come on Maria! You'll _love _it!" Anthony yelled happily, a wide grin on his face. Maria panted as he continued dragging her down the hall.

"Anthony slow down!" Maria yelled. Shadow's ears twitched as he tilted his head. He then picked up his pace and swung around the corner. He looked down the hall to see Maria disappear around another corner.

_"Maria and Anthony...those were the two I met first aren't they?"_ Shadow thought before running after them.

* * *

"What is it you want to show me?" Maria whined as Anthony slowed down his pace. Maria instantly bumped into him, knocking Anthony down and she went after him. Anthony blushed as he felt Maria's weight on top of him.

"Uhh..." he turned to her as she sat up. She then blushed and quickly got up, dusting off her skirt.

"Sorry!" she exclaimed before helping Anthony up.

"That's okay..." he said softly. Maria stared at him uncomfortably. She felt her cheeks burning up and the hall suddenly got hot. Anthony then turned around and led her down the hall, Maria following after him and soon they were standing in front of two bolted double doors.

"Why are you taking me to the lounge?" Maria asked curiously. Anthony glanced over to her from over his shoulder. He pushed open the door and they both walked into a large room with comfortable looking sofas and arm chairs spread out. A large blue area rug was spread out, matching the room's blue walls. The most noticeable wall though wasn't a wall at all but a large window running the length of what would have been the wall.

They left the doors wide open. Anthony wrapped his hand around her wrist again and slowly led her into the room. Upon entering the room, a fountain drink station complete with cups caught their site. They then saw a vending machine offering different kinds of sweets.

"Those weren't there last night." Anthony stated as he led Maria to the window. He let go of her wrist and glanced over to her.

"Well?" Maria asked as she looked outside.

"Look over there!" Anthony directed as he pointed to the far left corner. Maria followed his gaze and gasped at the view. A large blue-violet cloud with smaller pink, pale blue and white clouds surrounded a small shining core. She'd only seen one of those twice and she had been on the ARK for a long time.

"A nebula?" Maria asked, admiring the swirling colors. Anthony smiled at her reaction.

"Yup, I spotted it yesterday night. I would have told you then but it was late." Anthony replied. Maria glanced over to him and smiled.

"It's beautiful!"

Anthony blushed and rubbed the back of his head.

"Yeah...well...uh...ha..." Anthony nervously babbled.

Something then caught Maria's attention. From the corner of her eye she could see something short hiding behind the door, peeking into the room. She turned her attention to it as Anthony turned back to look at the Nebula and began explaining something. The lighting was pretty dim but she could still see Shadow's silhouette by the door. She smiled and waved.

"Hi Shadow!" she greeted. Anthony then stopped as Maria left his side and began walking towards the door.

"Maria?" he called after. Maria ignored him as Shadow cautiously entered the room. He knew better then to make sudden moves now. Boy did he scare the scientists while they were working on him. He found it funny but didn't show them his amusement. Shadow remained quiet as Maria bent down to his height.

"I'm Maria and he's Anthony. We're you're new friends." Maria happily introduced.

_"Friends?"_Anthony shrieked behind her. Maria ignored him as Shadow remained quiet. He then blushed as his stomach growled loudly. Maria dropped her smile and stared at him and she he could hear Anthony snickering behind her.

"What was _that?_" he asked. Maria turned to Anthony and glared at him. Anthony stopped and frowned. "Maria..." he began. Maria stood back up and crossed her arms across her chest.

"Have they been feeding you?" Maria asked. Shadow stared up at her.

"Have any orange juice?" he asked.

"Orange juice?" Maria repeated.

"That's the only thing they've given me that I actually like." Shadow explained. Maria placed her hands on her hips.

"Well that isn't right. Want some soda and a sandwich? That's all I can give you sorry." Maria offered.

"What's soda and sandwich?" Shadow asked curiously. Maria only stared at him.

"What have they been feeding you?" she asked again.

"Cereal, soup, granola, orange juice, and water." Shadow listed out.

"Wow...that's pretty depressing." Anthony commented as he sat down on one of the arm chairs. Maria walked over to the fountain drinks and pointed at the arm chair across Anthony's.

"Sit there!" she ordered. Shadow sat on the arm chair across Anthony's and looked out the window. He then glanced over to Anthony who had his arms crossed across his chest and was glaring at him.

"You kind of ruined my sort-of date you know!" Anthony stated. Shadow only stared at him.

"Date?"

"Here you go!" Maria handed out a ham sandwich to him and a cup of brown, bubbly liquid. Shadow took them and took a bite of the sandwich. He then stuffed it into his mouth and drank the soda in one swig. Maria and Anthony only stared at him in awe at how fast he had finished his drink and the sandwich.

Maria turned around.

"I'll get you more..." she said as she walked away. Shadow burped out loudly. Maria giggled as Anthony stuck his tongue out in disgust.

"Eww!" he said as he got up. Shadow glared at him and stuck his foot out in front of him as Anthony took one step forward. Anthony screamed as he fell forward and stood motionless as he fell face first onto the floor. Maria turned around and gasped.

"Anthony!"

"He tripped me!" Anthony moaned as he picked himself up.

"Shadow that's enough!" a man suddenly boomed. Maria, Anthony and Shadow turned to the door to see Gerald and Dr. Calvin in the door way. Maria gulped as Anthony quickly got up.

"You saw what it did, didn't you?" Anthony cried as he pointed at Shadow. Shadow quickly retracted his foot and stuck his tongue out at him.

"See it's dangerous!" Dr. Calvin exclaimed as he pointed over to Shadow whose ears drooped as he sunk into the couch.

"No he's not! He doesn't know what he's doing! It's pure innocence!" Maria defended. "Grandpa! I can explain-" Maria began.

"No need Maria. Anthony, leave, and Maria come here; I have to talk to you. Calvin, keep an eye on Shadow will you?" Gerald ordered as he stepped out of the door way and into the corridor. Maria reluctantly followed after him. Calvin stepped into the room.

"Grandpa-"Maria began again. Gerald held up a finger. Maria stopped and looked down to her shoes.

"You know, you were behaving so well and I had decided that it was time to let you go-" Gerald began.

"I'm sorry!" Maria cried.

"Maria, listen. You're not in trouble and I overreacted. In fact I'm asking you a favor." Gerald continued. Maria looked up to him curiously.

"A favor?"

"I can't observe Shadow all day. The other scientists can't either, they're too busy. So I was wondering if you'd observe Shadow for me. Just tell me how he behaves and anything interesting that he does."

"Oh...okay."

"Right now his mind is under developed. He's pretty much innocent, not exactly thinking about his actions. Of course I expected that, but over time he'll develop both mentally and physically. He looks young doesn't he? About your age? Twelve."

Maria glanced over her shoulder to look at Shadow and then turned back to her grandfather and nodded.

"In about two years I estimate, he should have grown. He'll physically look fifteen and will mentally think fifteen. At least, that's what I'm expecting." Gerald explained.

"Really?" Maria asked. Gerald only nodded.

"So will you do me that favor?" Gerald asked. Maria smiled.

"Sure grandpa!" Maria agreed happily. Gerald smiled and placed a hand on Maria's head.

"That's my girl." he said before walking away. Maria watched as he turned the corner before hearing a loud thud and a loud groan behind her. She turned around to see Shadow's foot extended out and Dr. Calvin sprawled out on the floor.

"Innocent my-" Dr. Calvin growled as he picked himself up and walked towards Maria. "Be careful Maria. He may not be as _innocent_ as you think." Dr. Calvin advised before storming off. Shadow smiled as he watched the doctor walk away and Maria couldn't help but smile as well. Although she was wondering what she could do with Shadow.

"Hey Shadow, I'll meet you tomorrow alright?" Maria said before walking off. Shadow only watched as she walked away. He then stood up and walked over to the fountain drinks before something caught his eye. He turned to the window to see his reflection again. He frowned as he took a few more steps. He then stopped.

"Stop copying me!" he yelled angrily at his reflection.

"Who are you yelling at?" Maria asked as he walked back into the room. Shadow turned around to see Maria walking over to the fountain drink station where two cups filled with soda sat. She took one and put in a straw before walking away. "Yours is there." she said before walking towards the door and then stopped. "Calm down will you? That's just your reflection!"

She then walked out of the room, leaving Shadow alone. Shadow turned to the window again and took a few steps and again got annoyed with his own reflection.

"Stop it!"

But then again, he didn't exactly know what a reflection was.

* * *

**A/N: **So tell me what you guys think of this story so far. Sure it's only two chapters long for now but I'd love to hear...er...read your feedback!

As to characters being in character, we haven't really seen much of Maria to know how exactly she'd behave so there wouldn't really be any OOCness there, Anthony, the Commander is just a kid so again, no OOCness there. Shadow was just 'born' and still has to learn about the world aboard the ARK so he's going to be innocent for a while, he's not going to be the Shadow we all love just yet.


	3. Home

**A/N: **Here's the next chapter! Thanks to those who reviewed and faved/alerted since the last chapter, you guys seriously made my day. Oh, and duskzilla asked me if I'm going to write up holiday chapters, and yeah I am. I'm actually going to do five holidays; Valentine's Day is actually one I'd _love _to write about but that's chapters away.

I'm talking too much so I'll just shut-up now.

* * *

**Chapter 3: Home  
**

The room was dark save for the light coming in through the window. Maria loved to just lay in bed for a while after waking up and look out of the large window in her room. Sometimes she'd see shooting stars or even a comet passing by. She'd be able to see a few planets off in the distance as small colorful dots, or she'd stare at the moon. But what she loved to look at the most in the empty void of space was earth. She'd remember what she used to do during her time on her home planet.

Before she was diagnosed with her illness at the age of nine, she used to play multitudes of sports. She used to play soccer, basketball, softball, baseball among others. Volleyball and tennis were two of her favorite sports. She used to spend time with her friends and her cousins, oh her cousins. The last time she was on earth her aunt, her grandfather's daughter, was three months pregnant and she had given birth in late July, two months after Maria's tenth birthday.

But that was years ago. Of course, since two years had passed her new baby cousin was two and she had yet to meet him. Her grandfather had told her that the little one's name was Ivo. She had to admit that it was a weird name, but that was besides the point. She had seen pictures of her family and from what she had seen, little Ivo was pretty cute as a baby.

She heard a soft knock on the door and sat up, yawning as she stretched before calling out.

"Come in!"

The door to her room slid open and in walked her grandfather, his hands behind his back and a big smile on his face.

"Good Morning Maria." Gerald greeted his granddaughter. Maria smiled back as she climbed out of bed. She sat on the edge, her hands on her lap and looked up at him.

"Good Morning grandpa." she greeted back before standing up. "Where's Shadow?"

"Ah, Shadow. Right now some tests are being run on him so you'll have to wait a while. Get cleaned up and ready for the day and I'll drop Shadow off with you in an hour." Gerald replied before turning around and walking out of the door. Before the door slid closed again, he turned around. "Oh, and be careful with him Maria. Like I said before, he's harmless but he is quite…special."

The door finally slid closed and Maria made her way to the bathroom to get ready. She knew Shadow was special. Her grandfather had created him in order to find a way to cure her, so of course he was special. In a way Shadow was her lifeline.

Maria brushed her teeth, showered, got dressed and fixed her hair before making her way out of her room, but not before checking the time on the clock. Twenty minutes had passed overall since she had woken up; an hour still hadn't gone by. She frowned and finally made her way out of her room, and began walking down the hall when she heard somebody call out her name.

"Maria!"

Maria stopped and turned around to see Anthony running toward her. When Anthony finally reached her, he stopped and panted, a smile on his face.

"Maria…hey." he said through huffs.

"Hi Anthony, what's up."

"I…wait." Anthony held up a finger as he leaned against the wall. He took deep breaths as Maria stared at him, her face contorting into that of worry.

"Are you okay?" Maria asked. Anthony nodded.

"I'm just fine." he assured, his breath now calming down. "Do you want to go get breakfast?"

"Breakfast?" Maria repeated. Now that she thought about it she _was_ hungry. "Sure Antho-" she began before Anthony grabbed her wrist and began running again, dragging her down the hall.

"Then let's go! It's pancake day!"

Pancake day! She had forgotten that it was pancake day. There were only two days out of every month when pancakes would be made for breakfast, and it _was_ something to get excited about. Who couldn't resist pancakes?

When they finally got to the cafeteria, they quickly walked up to the breakfast bar, where a huge plate of pancakes was set in the middle. Plates of scrambled eggs, French toast, regular toast, and many other breakfast foods were set around the pancakes plate. Both children quickly took a plate each and stacked as many pancakes as they could on their plates, that was before somebody walked up behind them and cleared their throat. Maria and Anthony stopped and turned to see Miracle standing behind them, an amused grin on her face.

"Save some pancakes for the rest of us, please." she chuckled. "Three for each of you is enough for now. Put some scrambled eggs on your plate, anything but please leave us some pancakes!" she said as she took a plate herself and began stacking pancakes on her own plate.

"Sorry." Anthony said sheepishly as he walked away from the plate of pancakes.

"You know, they should make every Friday pancake day. But there isn't enough pancake mix to last until the ship carrying the supplies comes back in August" Miracle said as she quickly took a tray from a stack of trays nearby, placed her plate on said tray and began down for the scrambled eggs on her plate. She then reached down to a basket full of apples, and took a bright red apple into her hands.

"Miracle?" Maria looked back to Miracle who took a quick bite from her apple.

"Yes, sweetheart?"

"Is testing on Shadow almost done?" Maria asked. Miracle placed her apple on her tray and swallowed.

"Oh, I heard what Gerald proposed to you. Maria, you have to be careful around Shadow, okay? Calvin has a point for being so distrustful around him." Miracle said as she picked up her tray and turned around. "Testing on Shadow should be done by the end of the hour. Don't worry, you grandfather's not going to forget about dropping him off with you." Miracle then walked away from the breakfast bar. Anthony turned to Maria and frowned.

"Why do you have to show that…thing around the ARK? Even Miracle told you to be careful around it." Anthony asked.

"It's not an _'it' _or a _'thing' _Anthony. Shadow is a hedgehog, not a monster." Maria replied before taking her plate and walking away from the breakfast bar. Anthony took his and walked after her.

"But Maria-"

Maria stopped at an empty table and glared at him as she set her plate down. Anthony stopped at the table, sitting down as Maria sat down, still frowning.

"I don't trust it…I mean don't trust Shadow."

"You're going to have to. Grandpa is using Shadow to help cure me, remember?"

"Yes, I remember." Anthony groaned before beginning to eat. They both ate in silence, neither saying a word, and once they were done, they got up and disposed their plates before walking out of the cafeteria. Just as they set foot in the hallway, somebody called out to them.

"Maria! Anthony!"

Both children turned around to see Gerald walking over them, his hand wrapped around Shadow's wrist, the young hedgehog trying to wiggle out of his grasp. Gerald stopped and glared down at Shadow. "Shadow, stop it!"

Shadow almost immediately did as told and stopped struggling to get out of the professors grasp before looking up and seeing Maria and Anthony. Once Shadow had remained still for a few seconds, Gerald finally let go of his wrist.

"I've brought you Shadow as promised. I would rather you not be alone with Shadow until more tests are run on him. So Anthony," Gerald turned to Anthony.

"Yes sir?"

"Can you please accompany Maria and Shadow wherever they go? I would really appreciate it if you do." Gerald asked. Anthony frowned. He didn't like Shadow already, not after what it, or '_he'_ as Maria and Gerald said, had done to him the day before. But he didn't want to be alone, and he agreed with Gerald. He would rather not let Maria be alone with Shadow until he was sure Shadow wasn't extremely dangerous. Sure Shadow was created to help find a way to cure Maria, but there was just something about the hedgehog that didn't seem right to him.

Anthony took a deep breath and exhaled. "Yes, I'll accompany them." he reluctantly agreed. He couldn't leave his best friend with some weird, talking hedgehog right?

* * *

It was after an hour that Shadow had been dropped off with Maria, and Anthony had agreed to hang out with them. Now he was seriously regretting having done so. Maria hadn't spoken to him at all since the past hour. She only spoke to Shadow as she showed him around the ARK. She showed him the cafeteria, the gym, the supply room, any other rooms that were of importance. She even showed him the indoor pool where Maria would take a swim at least once a week, unfortunately the pool had been drained out and wouldn't be cleaned and filled back up with water for another month. She had promised to teach Shadow how to swim, and the hedgehog was actually pretty interested in the idea of swimming after Maria had explained to him what swimming was exactly.

They had gone through most of the ARK by the time Maria decided to take Shadow to the Viewing Room, their last stop. Anthony was actually starting to consider leaving them alone. He was just a third wheel anyway; he wasn't doing anything other than acting as a bodyguard. From what he had seen, Shadow wasn't _that_ dangerous though Miracle and Calvin had told Maria to be careful, so he knew that he couldn't just judge Shadow by his looks. Looks can be deceiving after all.

When they finally made it to the door that separated the wall from the Viewing Room, Maria stopped and turned to both Shadow and Anthony.

"Sorry that I've been ignoring you Anthony, I'll just show Shadow this one last room and then we can have fun." Maria said, offering her friend a small smile. Anthony sighed and nodded.

"Okay."

Maria turned around stepped toward the door which opened as soon as she was a foot away, and led both Shadow and Anthony into the room. The Viewing Room was a large room, about the size of a swimming pool, and just like many of the rooms in the ARK, one wall was made entirely of glass, offering a view of space. The only difference was that in that particular room, a good view of earth was offered along with the sun and the moon. Venus could be seen as a small bright orange speck past earth, and mercury wasn't even visible at all from where they were. There were arm chairs set about in the room in a way the one would be able to get a good view of earth and its moon, and a good view of a few distant nebulas.

All three walked into the room and the door slid closed behind them. Anthony walked over to one of the arm chairs and sat down, sinking himself into it and closing his eyes. Just this one last stop and then he and Maria would finally be able to play. He wanted to go play a good game of basketball with her, though it was a game he wasn't very good at, he just loved throwing the ball into the basket and dribbling it around the small basketball court in the gym.

"What is this place?" he could hear Shadow say. He opened his eyes to see the hedgehog in front of the window, his mouth wide open in awe. Maria smiled and sat down on the floor, crossing her legs and pulling her skirt across her knees.

"The Viewing Room. This is where I usually go when I want to be alone. Do you see that big blue ball over there?" Maria pointed toward earth, which was indeed a big blue ball in space, covered with white and dark brown.

"Yes."

"That's earth, where Anthony and I were born. It's a beautiful place. Do you see all that blue? It's water, and the brown is land, and the white is all cloud."

Shadow remained quiet for a moment, his red eyes darting around as he took in the breathtaking view of earth from where he stood. For a moment he could see his reflection in the window, red eyes staring back at him. He knew that it was his reflection by then, and the concept of a reflection had taken some getting used to the day before, but his reflection didn't really bother him anymore. But what Maria was describing…he didn't know how to go about it.

"Ma..ria?"

Maria turned to Shadow. "Yes?"

"Maria," Shadow tried saying her name once again, getting used to the sound of her name on his tongue. "What's blue, brown and white? And what's land and cloud?" Shadow asked. Maria stared at him for a few seconds.

"You don't know, do you?"

"No, what are they?" Shadow asked. Maria hummed and patted the spot next to her.

"Sit here."

Shadow did as told and sat down next to Maria. He tried crossing his legs as Maria had done, but wasn't able to so he sat with his legs straight out.

"Blue, brown and white are colors. You know what colors are, right?"

Shadow shook his head. He had no idea what color was. Maria frowned.

"Okay, so blue…"

Anthony sighed as he sat up. He didn't want to spend another moment with Shadow ruining his time with Maria, so he stood up and walked over to the door. He didn't care if he got in trouble with Gerald for leaving Maria alone with Shadow. Maria was a big girl now, she could take care of herself. Just as he reached the door, he heard Maria call out to him.

"Anthony!"

Anthony stopped and glanced over his shoulder.

"What?"

"Where are you going?" Maria asked. Anthony turned back around.

"Away from here." was all he said before leaving the room, the door closing shut behind him. Maria quickly got up and ran to the door.

"Anthony!"

Shadow sat there and watched as Maria ran after Anthony. He had already had an understanding of emotions, something the scientists and Gerald had introduced to him so that Shadow could communicate with them effectively, and Shadow wasn't too sure if he was right, but he thought he knew what emotion Anthony was feeling at the moment. He did take Maria away from him for a whole hour after all and Anthony had reluctantly followed them around. He'd have to ask the doctor later, just to be sure that he understood the emotion Anthony was going through at the moment.

Anthony was jealous.

* * *

**A/N: **Sorry if this chapter was a total letdown, but Shadow and Maria have to get to know each other at some point, right? And sorry that it was so short, but I want to update this at least once a week and I'm not sure if I'll be able to update later in the week, so I updated now.

Oh, and please tell me if you spotted any mistakes and I'll fix them, I'm actually doing pretty well in English class with grammar and stuff like that, but I do tend to make mistakes still. And I'm open to suggestions/ideas too. Just remember that I won't be able to use all ideas suggested, if any _are_ suggested at all. Thanks.

There was mention of Dr. Eggman in this chapter, though he's still a baby at this point. Since he's Maria's cousin and we don't know his exact age (or maybe I just don't know), I'm guessing that he was still a baby when Maria died. So in this story, Maria's ten years older than Eggman, and she's only heard of him and seen him through pictures.


	4. Gravity

**A/N: **So here's chapter four. I'm actually pretty surprised as to the amount of attention this story has gotten. So thank you _so _much to those who faved/alerted, even if you didn't review, _and _I'd like to thank darkgirl43255, duskzilla, Anthea Triton, and ihateyaoi for reviewing. Your reviews made my day :)

Oh, and after this chapter there are only twenty more chapters left of this, more or less. It depends. And I'm actually going to be giving more attention to this story now, so updates WILL be weekly, and speaking of updates, the next update will probably be next weekend.

Okay, so enjoy the chapter! And I'm sorry this is so short, and maybe a little crappy, but please tell me what you think about it anyway, I actually had a little trouble writing this one. And on an unrelated note, I seriously don't like the sites new layout. I'm cool with being able to put up story covers, but to change the layout? Or maybe the layout just changed how it looks on my computer screen?

* * *

**Chapter 4: Gravity  
**

Anthony stared out toward earth as he sat down in front of the window in the Viewing Room as he sat on one of the many arm chairs in the room. The room was actually one of the few places he'd hide in when he wanted to be left alone, besides the gym, his room, and many other places in the ARK. He had actually been in the same room the whole day, and he didn't intend to leave anytime soon, besides Maria was too busy with Shadow to pay any attention to him, so he sat in the room in silence, admiring the planet he called home from where he sat.

If he could, he would have stayed on earth, and then he wouldn't have had to rely on just one person to save him from boredom. But it wasn't his choice to go live on the ARK, it was his father's, and he couldn't really stay on earth anyway since he didn't have any family besides his father. His mother had died when he was five in a car accident, and he didn't know if he had any other relatives, and if he did then he never got the chance to meet them since he had been living on the ARK since he was six. Besides he had a good reason for being annoyed at Maria. He had been the only child on the ARK for the next few years up until Gerald brought her on the ARK. Children weren't allowed on the ARK at all, unless special permission was granted by G.U.N..

He sighed and laid his head on the arm rest. He didn't know how much time had passed by. Maybe it was past lunch time already, and he didn't even know it. Anthony closed his eyes, relaxed his body, and just as he was about to fall asleep, he heard the door slide open from the other side of the room. He continued to sit there until he heard a familiar voice and frowned as he opened his eyes to look up to see the owner of the voice. Maria stared down at him, her arms behind her back and her lips curved down into a frown.

"Anthony, I've been looking everywhere for you." Maria said as Anthony sat up and stretched.

"What for?" he asked in a bored tone. Why would Maria be looking for him? She already had Shadow, didn't she?

"What do you mean what for? We were supposed to go to the lounge to see a movie on the new television, remember?" Maria sat down on the arm chair adjacent to Anthony's as the younger boy stared at her.

"Weren't you going to take care of Shadow today?" Anthony asked as he closed his eyes again. It was silent for a minute before Maria finally responded.

"You know, my grandfather wasn't exactly happy that you left me alone with Shadow yesterday, but I covered for you. I told him that I told you that you could leave if you wanted to. He scolded me a bit after I told him that, he said that I shouldn't be alone with Shadow until enough tests are run on him."

Anthony opened his eyes again and glanced over to Maria.

"I don't trust Shadow."

"You're going to have to Anthony. We're going to see a lot of him for a long time." replied. Anthony frowned. Maria smiled at him as she placed her hands on her lap. "Anthony?"

"Yes?"

"You were jealous yesterday, weren't you?"

Anthony sat up straight and quickly shook his head.

"No I wasn't!"

Maria continued to smile at him. Anthony sighed and relaxed back into his chair.

"Maybe just a little. But I mean, Shadow ruined our day yesterday!"

"He didn't ruin our day, you ruined it for yourself."

Anthony stopped and glanced away. "Yeah, sure." was all he said before the door slid open again.

"Maria!" Gerald called, his shoes clicking against the floor as he walked into the room. Maria turned to the door and smiled at her grandfather.

"Hi, grandpa." Maria greeted as Gerald walked over to both children, his hands behind his back and Shadow walking beside him.

"Maria, my dear, we have finished running tests on Shadow today so I'm leaving him in your hands." Gerald said with a smile. He then glanced over to Anthony who looked up to him from his seat. "Anthony, please don't leave Maria alone with Shadow again, no matter what. Now if you two excuse me, I must go back to work." Gerald turned around and walked back toward the door. Shadow stood on the same spot, as he stared at Maria and Anthony. When the door slid open again he glanced over his shoulder before turning back to the two children in front of him.

"Hi Shadow, how are you today?" Maria asked. Anthony rolled his eyes and looked back to the window.

"I'm fine." Shadow answered. "Did you eat lunch already?" he then asked. Maria shook her head.

"Why? Didn't you?"

"No. I was told that you would take me to lunch."

"Oh, really?" Maria stood up straight and stared down at Shadow. She remained quiet for a moment before turning to Anthony. "Anthony, do you want to join us for lunch?"

Anthony turned back to Maria. He knew that was a trick question and that if he decided not to go with her that she would not cover for him again. So he nodded his head and sighed. He was hungry, the empty feeling in his stomach was starting to bother him and he would be glad to go to the cafeteria for lunch with Maria, but he didn't want to be with Shadow at all. He still thought that something was weird about him.

* * *

It was after lunch that Maria, Anthony, and Shadow explored the ARK again. Anthony once again, remained quiet as Maria spoke to Shadow.

"Do you understand colors now?" Maria asked. From what Anthony could tell, Maria had worked on the concept of colors with Shadow yesterday long after he stormed out of the Viewing Room. The hedgehog looked up to Maria and nodded.

"Yes, I do."

"Okay, so what color is my dress?"

"Blue?"

"Yes, and what color is the sun?" Maria asked as she pointed out of one of the many windows in the hallway they were walking down. Shadow glanced out the window and stared at the sun for a minute before finally answering.

"Ye..llow. Yellow?"

"Yes! I think you got colors now, do you know how to count?"

"Count?" Shadow repeated as he tilted his head and stared at Maria.

"You don't know how to count? Maybe I'll show you how to count, too."

Anthony scoffed, almost immediately earning a glare from Maria.

"Is something wrong?" she continued to glare at Anthony as the latter stared at Maria for a few seconds before finally responding.

"You know what? Yes, there is. You're taking care of him, you're just going to observe his behavior, not treat him like a pre-schooler, and teach him how to count, read, and all that other stuff they show to four year olds in pre-school. Leave that to the scientists; see if they want him to know all that stuff." Anthony replied.

"Anthony, I _want _to teach Shadow all those things. If I _want _to teach him all those things then I _will._" Maria retorted as she placed her hands on her hips. "It's not like the scientists are going to teach him…right?"

"They should be." Anthony answered as Maria glanced down to Shadow.

"Hey Shadow, what do the scientists do with you anyway?" she asked and Shadow only looked up to her with a blank expression.

"Why do you want to know that?" Shadow asked.

"I just want to know. Aren't the scientists teaching you anything I'm teaching you?"

"No…"

"Then what are they doing with you?"

"They just…put me in a huge tube and connect a lot of wires on me. They do that for a while before finally letting me go. Then they take me to the gym to run some laps before taking me back to the lab and running some more tests on me." Shadow explained.

"Laps?" Anthony repeated as he turned to look at Shadow who only nodded his head.

"Yes, I can run pretty fast. The scientists however, cannot." Shadow replied.

"How fast?" Anthony seemed to take an interest in Shadow now. Maybe there _was_ something strange about Shadow after all.

"_Really _fast. Yesterday Calvin had a weird device he called a 'Radar Speed Gun', and he told Professor Gerald that I run up to speeds of over 200 miles per hour. He even said that I broke the radar, so they're getting a new one." Shadow answered.

"Wow. Hey Maria, do you think we can take Shadow to the gym to see what he can do? He is the 'Ultimate' Life Form anyway."

Maria frowned as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"I don't know. We'll probably get in trouble if we get caught going into the gym without proper supervision." Maria said as she continued walking down the hall, Shadow walking right beside her, and Anthony a few feet behind.

"We won't get caught; we're just going to go into the most unused area in the gym, the track. Please?"

Maria stopped and turned back to Anthony, before sighing and hesitantly nodding her head.

"Alright, let's go to the gym."

* * *

Whenever somebody first heard of the gym, he or she would think that it was a room large enough for a few workout machines, and maybe even a designated area for a swimming pool, and the locker rooms. Anthony and Maria were no exception. But when somebody would lay eyes on the gym for the first time, they were usually amazed at the actual size of the gym. Upon entering, there were a few workout machines and a door on the right and left of the room, which lead to the men's and women's locker rooms respectively. There was then a third door near the women's locker room that lead to a few other rooms in the gym. Maria and Anthony lead Shadow through the workout room to the door that lead to the other areas of the gym. They then lead him down a hall, and past a few doors; one room was dedicated to tennis and volleyball, while another held a massive swimming pool.

Finally they reached a door near the end of the hall, and Anthony ran over and opened it. He held it open for Maria as she walked over to him, only for Shadow to run ahead of Maria and enter the room before her. Anthony frowned and glared at Shadow as Maria finally reached him.

"Thank you Anthony." she said as she walked through the door. Anthony smiled as he followed after her.

"You're welcome." he said before pressing his hand against the wall to look for the light switch. When he finally found the switch, each row of lights overhead turned on one by one. When the whole room was illuminated, all three walked over to the track. The room was about half the size of a football field. The track was the standard oval shape with an inner oval of grass. There were a few bleachers on the other side of the room, and a large window on the other side of the room that also gave a view of space.

"So, would you mind showing us what you can do now Shadow?" Maria asked. Shadow nodded.

"Yes," he said as he stretched his arms and walked over to the field. Anthony stood by Maria as Shadow positioned himself on the track and just as he took a step forward, the lights turned off, leaving them in the dark, the only light coming from the window on the other side of the room.

"Hey, what gives?" Anthony cried before he felt himself being lifted up.

"Wait…what-" he could hear Maria cry out.

"What's happening?" Shadow asked, and through the dim light Anthony could see that he was flailing his arms wildly. The lights turned back on, though very dimly, illuminating the room a little bit more. A few seconds later, a voice echoed through the room through one of the many speakers located in various places in the room.

"Attention! Attention! The generator has failed, and we are currently running on back-up power. The zero-gravity switch has been compromised due to the power outage, so please do not be alarmed if you find yourself floating through the air. We will work as quickly as possible to restore power, and fix the zero-gravity switch. Please be patient while we do so." somebody announced over the speakers. It was then silent.

"So…we're going to be floating around here for a while, huh?" Anthony said as he motioned his arms as if he were swimming to move around the room.

"Yes." he could hear Maria say as she flailed her arms around. "I feel a little dizzy." she said before bumping into Shadow who was still flailing his arms around.

"What is this?" he asked, slightly annoyed.

"There's no gravity in here Shadow. Gravity was what kept us on the floor, so now that there's no gravity, it's like we're swimming through the air…which doesn't sound bad at all." Maria explained.

"Swim?" Shadow repeated.

"Gosh, doesn't he know anything?" Anthony asked.

"Anthony, don't start." Maria said in a warning tone as she pushed away from Shadow and tried moving toward the ceiling. "His mind is still under-developed, so go easy on him, okay?"

"I'm not making any promises."

Maria frowned before she heard Anthony laugh. She looked down to see Anthony doing cartwheels through the air as Shadow only floated around the room, letting himself float around. Maria smiled as she turned around, turning her back to the ground, and letting herself float around as well.

"This isn't bad." she said as Anthony stopped doing cartwheels and looked up to her.

"No, this is kind of fun. I feel as though I'll lose my lunch any minute now, but this is still pretty fun." Anthony replied.

"Yeah…" Maria closed her eyes and put her hand behind her head. She opened her eyes as the lights overhead turned on, and quickly closed them as she was momentarily blinded by the light. Anthony fell about five feet to the floor, yelping out as he hurt his butt while Shadow fell down onto his knees. While Anthony hissed in pain and rolled over, Shadow looked up as Maria flailed her arms and began falling down to the floor.

"Wait…oh crap!" She screamed as she hopelessly reached up to the ceiling. She was about fifteen feet above the floor, and she was pretty sure that if she fell down she's break a bone or something worse would happen. Shadow stood up, and Anthony sat up despite the pain and watched as Maria fell.

"Maria!" he called out. Shadow quickly ran over to where Maria was falling down and just as she was a good few feet from the floor, he jumped up and caught her in his arms. Maria almost immediately stopped screaming and opened her eyes as Shadow's feet meet the ground again, though he fell onto one knee.

"You're pretty heavy." Shadow huffed as Maria pushed away from him and stood back on her own two feet. Maria took deep breaths as she glanced up to the ceiling before looking back down to Shadow.

"Shadow…you…" Maria began through breaths. "Thank you." she finally said as she helped Shadow back onto her feet.

"D-Did you see what he did? That was amazing." Anthony said through gritted teeth. Maria then rushed over to Anthony and helped him back on his feet.

"Ow!"

"Are you alright?" Maria asked him. Anthony shook his head.

"No…it hurts." Anthony answered as Maria held him up with one of his arms over her shoulders.

"Maria, Anthony!"

Both children looked toward the door to see Miracle walking into the room, frowning.

"What are you two doing here unsupervised? And with Shadow? I was looking all over for your guys; you had me worried sick, especially with that power outage we just had!" she exclaimed as she walked over to both children. "Anthony, are you alright?"

"Sort of." he said as he pushed away from Maria, and tried to stand-up straight. The pain wasn't as intense as it was before, but it still hurt.

"Miracle, we-" Maria began before Miracle interrupted her.

"Sweetie, I don't want any explanations, I'm just here to take Shadow back to the lab. Your grandfather decided to run some more tests on him so you won't see him until tomorrow." Miracle said as she walked over to Shadow and gently wrapped her hand around Shadow's wrist. Shadow frowned as she led him to the door. "Come you two, you shouldn't have been here in the first place. You see now why you can't be in the gym unsupervised? A power outage might happen and then what?" Miracle called back as Anthony and Maria followed after her.

Both children walked out of the room and back toward the main workout room.

"Didn't you see what Shadow did?" Anthony asked Maria again.

"No, Anthony. I was falling, remember?"

"There really is something weird about him you know." Anthony then said as the pain started to subside. Maria frowned.

"He's not weird, Anthony. He's special."

* * *

**A/N: **Again, I'm so sorry if this chapter was crappy. I had it planned out and it was actually better when I imagined it, but it didn't come out as I wanted it to when I typed it down.


	5. Swimming Lessons

**A/N: **Here's the next chapter. It might be a little rushed since I did this over the course of the past hour. I just got inspired suddenly and since I have to leave to do something important soon, I just thought I'd type this up and post it.

Again, I'd like to thank everybody who's reading this story, and reviewing it and faving/alerting it, I _really _appreciate it. And I just want to mention that for now on, each chapter will take place during a certain month. Like this chapter and the next two chapters will take place in June, so the last few chapters took place in May. It might seem a little confusing so if you are confused, then just tell me and I'll try to explain it better.

And I was asked if Anthony will ever warm up to Shadow, and I can't really answer that question. I'd be giving away the later chapters of the story. Sorry :/

* * *

**Chapter 5: Swimming Lessons**

_**June **_

A few weeks had passed by since the power outage, and everybody had forgotten about said outage. They all went about their lives and work as if nothing happened, it was a technical difficulty after all, and it didn't really affect them much at all in any way. Though as the weeks passed by, Gerald did notice an incredible change; maybe it was because he had been released for his capsule too early, but Shadow didn't know much of anything when he was released, which was to be expected but he wasn't exactly thriving as he should have been, that was until Gerald allowed Maria to observe Shadow's behavior. Since then he had run many tests on his creation. The hedgehog didn't have basic knowledge such as math, and colors among other things at first, but now Shadow knew _everything. _He was learning about the world around him, and it was pretty obvious that Maria was giving him the most basic education and he couldn't be more grateful.

Gerald also noticed a change in Shadow. He was no longer the withdrawn, naïve hedgehog he was when he first woke up, no. Since spending time with Maria, Shadow had become outgoing, even more curious, and was happy. He was actually happy which please Gerald. What good would it have been if he kept Shadow from leaving the lab room, he could have been miserable, alone, and scared? No, if Shadow was going to be of any use to him he had to make sure he was happy, and was actually communicating and interacting with people.

Actually, Gerald had come to love Shadow as another child over the past few weeks. So when Maria suddenly asked him if she could teach Shadow how to swim, he didn't know what to say. He had created Shadow to help cure Maria, and to be the Ultimate Life Form, but not once did he ever think of how Shadow would be able to adapt to his environment. He just decided to create the Ultimate Life Form and that was it.

He didn't even know what would happen if Shadow _did _go swimming. Would his DNA be messed up like the other experiments when they touched water? No, Shadow had alien DNA, and living things needed water and aliens were living things so water couldn't possibly hurt Shadow, right? Despite his concerns though, Gerald hesitantly gave Maria permission to teach Shadow how to swim. Besides, if Shadow was to be the Ultimate Life Form he had to learn how to swim, and Gerald did need to know how Shadow would react in water, so he gave Maria the okay to do so.

That was how Shadow found himself standing on the edge of the pool, looking down into the water, his reflection staring back at him. Anthony only stared at Shadow from where he sat on the life guard post before his eyes darted to the other side of the room where Maria was walking towards Shadow. She had changed out of her usual blue dress into a purple bathing suit, her hair tied up into a high ponytail.

"Shadow, take off your shoes." Maria yelled across the room. Shadow looked up and frowned.

"Take off my shoes?"

"You can't go in the water with your shoes on." Maria said as she finally reached him. She stood next to him and looked over to Anthony who sat on the post, looking rather bored from where he sat. She had insisted that he stay out of the water while she tried to teach Shadow how to swim. She suddenly got the idea to do such a thing after the power outage. She realized that if Shadow had trouble navigating himself during zero gravity, then he'd have trouble when he actually tried to swim.

"Maria…" Anthony called from where he sat. Maria looked up to Anthony who took a deep breath before exhaling.

"Why do I have to be here too?"

"Anthony, I'm teaching Shadow how to swim, and I want to at least have some peace of mind that somebody who knows how to swim can help me in case something happens…and why are you sitting on the life guard post?"

"I like the view from here." was Anthony's reply. Maria shook her head before turning her attention back to Shadow who was looking back down into the water. Anthony continued to stare at Shadow as Maria explained something to the red and black hedgehog. Anthony knew something was weird about Shadow. The latter did say that he had super speed, and Shadow had actually showed both he and Maria how fast he could run when they were playing tag one day. They had to cut the game short because Shadow was hard to catch. So far that was all Anthony found strange about Shadow. But since he was the 'Ultimate Life Form', Anthony knew that he had to have some other kinds of powers too.

"Okay, put your shoes over there so they don't get wet." Maria ordered as she pointed to the wall behind her. Shadow reluctantly did as told, his feet smacking against the tile floor before making his way back to Maria. Maria looked back up to where Anthony was. The boy was staring down at the water, a frown on his face. He was obviously upset; Maria just thought that he was upset because he had to teach Shadow how to swim as well.

"Now what?" Shadow asked.

"I think it'd be best if you learned how to doggie paddle first. I'll teach you another swimming method another day, but for now just follow directions, okay?" Maria replied. Shadow nodded. Maria gave him a small smile before pinching her nose and running toward the pool. She leaped off the edge of the edge and fell into the water with a loud splash. Shadow and Anthony watched as the water rippled for a few seconds and bubbles began surfacing, and when a few more seconds passed by Anthony began to panic. He quickly climbed down the life guard post and walked over to Shadow who was now bent over the edge of the pool and looking into the water.

"Maria?" Anthony called out. What if something happened to her and she was drowning? What if she couldn't swim at all? No, that couldn't be it. If she didn't know how to swim then why would she offer to teach Shadow how to swim? He'd go into the water to see what was wrong, but he didn't have the nerve to. The water seemed deep and if he did go then he'd risk sharing the same fate as Maria. He had never admitted to anyone, especially Maria that he-

His thoughts were interrupted when suddenly a hand broke the surface of the water. Shadow scurried away to avoid it, but Anthony wasn't so lucky. The hand wrapped around his wrist, and before he could do anything he was pulled forward.

"NO! Wait! Maria, I can't-" Anthony began before he fell into the water with a small splash. Maria finally surfaced and laughed as Shadow stared back at her, the hedgehog sighing in relief upon seeing his friend was just fine.

"I bet you didn't see that coming, right Anthony?" Maria asked as she turned around. She then frowned upon realizing that Anthony still hadn't surfaced. She then looked back to Shadow who frowned as well.

"Maria…is that normal?" he asked. Maria turned back to the water to see a few bubbles surfacing.

"N-No…it isn't. Oh my…Anthony!" Maria held her breath before diving back down into the water. Shadow crawled closer to the edge again and waited for Maria to resurface. It wasn't long before Maria did resurface along with Anthony who took a deep breath before coughing out water. He held on to Maria as the girl swam back to the edge of the pool, and once they reached the ladder he quickly latched onto it and climbed out of the pool.

"Anthony, I'm so sorry! I didn't know you couldn't swim!" Maria apologized as she quickly climbed out after him. Anthony sat on the edge, coughing out water before looking up to Maria.

"No, it's my fault. I never told you that I couldn't swim." Anthony said, his voice hoarse.

"But why didn't you tell me?" Maria demanded as she furrowed her brow and frowned.

"I never learned how to swim, I was so young when I came to live on the ARK and my father never had time to teach me. When you first came to live here you already knew how to swim, so I was embarrassed, okay?" Anthony explained before looking back up to Maria.

"Then I guess I'll have to teach you too." Maria extended her hand out to him and Anthony took it.

* * *

A while later, both Anthony and Shadow stood near the edge of the pool, both of them staring down into the deep water. Well, for them it was deep but in reality they were standing on the shallow end, and the water they were to jump into was only three feet deep. The part of the pool Maria wanted to teach Shadow how to swim in was five feet deep, but after realizing that maybe it was too deep to teach them how to swim in, she moved them to the shallow end.

"We're not going to drown, are we?" Shadow asked as he looked up to Maria who was walking back over to them.

"No, Shadow, you're not." Maria answered him, a smile on her face. She then sat on the edge and carefully dived into the water. When her feet touched the bottom, she looked up to Anthony and Shadow who were still staring down at the water with uncertainty. "Come in here." Maria said as she pushed herself backwards.

"Me?" Anthony and Shadow said simultaneously as they pointed at themselves.

"Yes, both of you. Come on, it's not that deep."

"You go first." Anthony told Shadow as he pushed the hedgehog in front of him. Shadow pulled back and glared up at Anthony.

"Why me?" Shadow exclaimed.

"She was going to teach you first, so you can go first!" Anthony said before pushing Shadow into the pool. He then stood there as Maria walked over to where Shadow was just as the young hedgehog began flailing his arms.

"I'm downing!" Shadow shrieked before he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Shadow…"

"Maria! Help me!" Shadow screamed as he subconsciously held onto her arm.

"Shadow!"

Shadow stopped and upon realizing that he was not in fact drowning, looked up to Maria who smiled down at him.

"You're not drowning. Now, hold my hands." she said and Shadow did as told. He tried touching his feet down onto the floor but he was too short and the water went up to his forehead, so instead he tried kicking his feet up.

"Right! Keep kicking your feet." Maria instructed as she began pulling him backwards. "And soon I'm going to let go of your hands, and I want you to do the same thing you're doing with your feet underwater, alright?" Maria said. Shadow hesitantly nodded, and as soon as he did Maria let go of his hands. At first he panicked as he began paddling his hands underwater, and soon he was swimming on his own.

"Shadow, you're doing it!" Maria called back as she swam to the edge where Anthony was. Anthony frowned as Maria held up her hand to him.

"Maria, I'm not sure about this." Anthony admitted as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"I'm not going to let you drown, Anthony. I promise."

"Promise?" Anthony repeated again.

"Promise." Maria assured. "Now get in here!"

"Okay…"Anthony inched closer to the edge. Yeah, maybe he should learn how to swim alongside Shadow, what was the worst that could happen?

* * *

"Wait! Maria!" Anthony shouted as he held onto the edge. Maria laughed as she tried to get Anthony to let go so she could continue teaching him.

Over the past hour, all the latter had done was scream, flail his arms wildly, and he almost cried as well when Maria let him go. He had doggie paddled for a little before finally giving up and trying to get out of the pool, only for Maria to drag him back into the water. Shadow on the other hand, had already learned the doggie paddle. In fact, all he had been doing for the past thirty minutes was swim.

"Anthony, let go!" Maria exclaimed as she pulled on him harder.

"No! YOU let go!" Anthony yelled as he pulled himself out of the pool, only for Maria to grab his foot. "NO!" he screamed as Maria pulled him back in. He tried to reach out for anything, only to then realize that there was nothing for him to grab onto. He was faintly aware of the sound of the door opening and closing, and of somebody's shoes clicking against the tiles as that somebody walked over to him and Maria.

"Maria," was all he heard before he latched onto that person's leg and wouldn't let go. "Anthony!"

"NO! Don't let me go!" Anthony cried before looking up to see Calvin glaring down at him. Before Anthony could apologize and let go though, Maria pulled him one last time causing Anthony to pull on Calvin, making him fall into the pool with him. Maria's smile soon turned into a frown as soon as she realized what had happened.

Anthony held onto the edge and looked over to Maria who then in turn looked over to Shadow. The young hedgehog had swam over to where Maria was and before he could say a word, a hand wrapped around his wrist and pulled him toward the ladder. For a second Shadow thought that it was Maria pulling him before realizing that it was Calvin.

"Calvin, where are you taking him?" Maria called after.

"Your grandfather wants to run some more tests on him! You won't be able to see your little friend for some time, dear." was all Calvin said as he pushed Shadow up the ladder before climbing out himself.

"But wait!" Maria tried to get to the ladder as Calvin dragged Shadow out of the room barefoot, both of them soaking wet. Water was dripping down Calvin's clothes as he finally reached the door. Once Maria was out of the pool however, they were already gone. Maria frowned and looked back to Anthony who had climbed out of the pool and was sitting on the edge. Before Anthony could say anything, Maria had rushed out of the door, leaving him all alone in the pool room.


	6. Training

**A/N: **I'm so sorry I didn't update last week. I know I said I'd be updating weekly, but I didn't _promise _that I would, and I can't make any promises on weekly updates now. I just needed to take a short break; I'm mentally exhausted so writer's block comes every now and then. Not that I got writer's block for this chapter, no this chapter was already planned I was just not in the mood to write it up. Sorry again.

Next update might be next Friday, I'm not sure.

Okay, I'll shut-up with my rambling now. This chapter is pretty short, but then again I'm not trying to make this into a formal story, not with the vague plot it has. So yeah, short chapter is short, for me anyway. I'm getting used to writing 5,000+ word chapters, but I'm not going to write such long chapters for this fic. I don't have the attention span for that and if I do I'll end up not updating for more than a week T_T

Oh, and I have to get the topic of Shadow's powers out there somehow, don't I? I couldn't think up much for this chapter, so _that's _why it's so short.

* * *

**Chapter 6: Training**

Maria frowned as she stared down at the plate of food before her, mindlessly pushing the food on her plate around. With a sigh, she got up from her seat, took her plate with her and disposed of her barely eaten lunch. If her grandfather were to see her throwing away almost all of her food, he would have been upset, more than upset actually. He'd be angry. He had told her many times to not waste food, that if she wasn't that hungry, to not get anything to eat at all.

He had told her that food shouldn't be wasted because the supply ship wouldn't arrive until August, and that food on the ARK was limited until then. Actually, she had been hungry when she first arrived at the cafeteria for lunch, but after sitting down, and eating a little bit of her food, she soon lost her appetite. It had been days since she last saw Shadow, and she couldn't help but be worried.

They were both scolded after the pool incident in which Anthony accidently dragged Calvin into the pool, since Maria was the one forcing Anthony into the pool in the first place, though she didn't think that their actions would have gotten Shadow in trouble. Not until a few days ago at least. Calvin was sort of cross with them after the incident, and Gerald advised both children to stay away from Calvin for a few days…or a week. But then again, Calvin was usually cross with everybody; that was just the way he was.

As Maria left the cafeteria and stared back to her room, she heard somebody call out to her and stopped. She turned to see Anthony walking toward her, a grin on his face. Maria stood where she had stopped and waited for him, as he got closer, he began talking.

"I haven't seen you all day, where-" Anthony began before seeing the frown on Maria's face. His lips curved down into a frown as well as Maria turned and continued walking. "Hey, are you okay?"

"I'm worried about Shadow." Maria sighed as Anthony wrinkled his nose.

"Oh, really?" he asked, obviously not very interested.

"Do you think we got him in big trouble? I mean, we haven't seen him for days!" Maria asked as she turned to look at him. Anthony stared at her for a few seconds, and exhaled. He didn't like seeing Maria so upset, especially over a being she's known for a few weeks.

"He'll be just fine. He's the 'Ultimate Life Form', isn't he?" Anthony said, and Maria nodded.

"Yes…but that doesn't mean anything." Maria replied.

"But he can take care of himself, can't he?"

"Well…I don't know." Maria exhaled as she crossed her arms over her chest. Anthony shook his head. He'd be just fine if Shadow didn't turn up for another day or two, he was enjoying not having the hedgehog around. But then again, he hated seeing Maria upset. In fact she had been a little depressed upon realizing that Gerald wouldn't drop Shadow off with her for a while.

"Maria, don't _worry._ Why don't we go to the Viewing Room for a while, you like going to the Viewing Room." Anthony started picking his pace a little. Maria sighed again as she tried to catch up to him.

"I guess so…" she hesitantly agreed. Before she could say anything else, somebody called them from behind, and both children quickly turned to see Gerald walking toward them.

"There you are, Maria. I've been looking for you everywhere."

"Grandpa? What's wrong?" Maria asked as she turned her full attention to her grandfather. "And what happened to Shadow?"

At the mention of Shadow, Gerald exhaled and forced a smile on his face.

"You've been worried about him the past few days, haven't you?" Gerald asked.

"Well, yes, I-" Maria began before Anthony cut her off.

"She's been worried sick professor. It's…distressing." Anthony said. _It's annoying!_

Gerald frowned, sighing as he placed a hand on Maria's shoulder.

"That's precisely why I was looking for you," Gerald said. "You see, Shadow has been training the past few days and we've been running more tests on him. He should be back with you anytime soon."

"Training?" Maria repeated, furrowing her brows.

"Yes, training. He's more than just a hope for a cure for you, remember that." Gerald told her, smiling now as he took his hand and put it behind his back.

"What kind of training?" Anthony asked curiously. He had to see what Shadow could do if it was the type of training he thought it was, and to his surprise it was.

"Training, Anthony. We're seeing the full extent of his abilities. For now he's not giving his all during his exercises, he's still so weak but he should be more powerful in a few more months. We just have to wait and see." Gerald explained before turning to look at Maria again.

"Maria, sweetheart, don't worry. In the next day or so, I will personally bring you Shadow like I always do. Just, let us run a few more training exercises and tests on him. Alright?"

Maria nodded dejectedly. "Yes, grandpa…I understand. But isn't there a way we can watch him during his training exercises?"

"No, I would rather you not watch." Gerald replied quickly. "Just, be patient. I will see you at dinner." was all the professor said before turning and leaving. Maria sighed again, as Anthony turned around.

"See Maria? He's just fine," Anthony began before Maria shook her head.

"I want to see what's happening! I mean, there's nothing bad with that, right?" Maria turned to look at Anthony who only stared back at her blankly.

"We'll risk getting in trouble again."

"Since when have you cared about getting in trouble? Trouble is practically your middle name!" Maria retorted.

"True…." Anthony agreed with a shrug. "But what do you want to do? I mean, it's not like we _know _where they're running training exercises." Anthony replied as he began walking again, taking slow steps as he waited for Maria to follow after him.

"What about the gym?"Maria asked. Anthony stopped and turned to look at her again, only to see that she was making her way down the other side of the wall.

"Wait, Maria! Where are you going?" he called after as he ran after her.

"To the gym. You know there are a whole lot of rooms in the gym."

"That doesn't mean that they're training him there."

"We have to try Anthony!"

Anthony huffed impatiently. He was about to say something to try to change her mind, but then Maria turned around and stared at him, stopping him in his tracks. Her eyes watered a little and she blinked the unshed tears away. Anthony sighed. As much as he still didn't like Shadow, Maria was still his best friend and he _hated _seeing her like that, so he reluctantly nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, fine. Let's check the gym."

"Oh!" Maria walked over to him and pulled him in for a hug, catching him by surprise. "Thank you Anthony! I know you don't like Shadow, but thank you so much! It means a lot!"

Anthony blushed as Maria pulled away, her eyes still a little moist. "Yeah, sure thing. Let's go."

* * *

They had tried almost every door in the gym. But each time they ended up in a room they knew very well, and they didn't see Shadow _anywhere. _They tried the basketball court, the pool room, the small soccer stadium, and even the rec room, but they didn't find him anywhere. So in the end, they gave up after a while and decided to make their way to the Viewing Room again. Maria didn't cry, in fact she had accepted the fact that she couldn't see Shadow for a few more days and went along with Anthony without any complaints. She walked quietly, with Anthony by her side.

"Maria, you'll see him soon, don't worry." Anthony assured her. Maria threw him a glare and sniffled.

"Stop saying that!"

"Sorry…." Anthony mumbled. "But you know, we haven't tried _every_ room."

Maria turned to look at Anthony, who in turn, turned to look at her.

"What do you mean?"

"Remember when your grandfather trained the other failed experiments?"

"Shadow isn't a failed experiment."

"You know what I mean!"

"Yeah, why?"

Anthony reached over and grabbed her wrist before pulling her down the hall. Maria paced to keep up with him, suddenly realizing what Anthony had in mind.

"I forgot about the training area." she said, and Anthony only grinned at her from over his shoulder as he let go of her wrist.

"Then come on, let's go."

* * *

They ran through the halls of the ARK, taking sharp turns sometimes, almost bumping into people. But when they finally reached the double door near the lab, the stopped and stood in front of it, panting.

"Do you know the pass code?" Anthony asked, looking over to the keypad next to the door. Maria took deep breaths and nodded. She had been to the training area before when her grandfather tried out the failed experiments of Project Shadow. If she remembered correctly, the pass code was…

"I think this is the right one at least." Maria mumbled as she walked over to the keypad and pushed in the numbers. To her relief, she did push in the right combination of numbers and the doors opened with a loud hiss.

"Then come on before somebody catches us." Anthony grabbed her wrist again and pulled her into the room. The door closed behind them with another loud hiss, closing them room. It was just a simple room, with steel gray walls and two doors and large one-way window. Maria knew that either of the doors led to a laboratory or the control room, but she didn't know which one led to which.

"Do you think we'll get caught?" Maria asked as she wriggled from Anthony's grasp and walked over to the window.

"Maybe, but let's not worry about that." Anthony replied as he walked up next to her. They stood in front of the window, blinking as they saw a yellow blur of light running around the room on the other side of the window. The room was huge, at least the size of the track. Ropes dangled from the ceiling, but nothing else was in the room. For the next two minutes they just watched the yellow blur, their eyes trained on it and on nothing else.

"What is that?" Anthony asked.

"I think…it's Shadow."

"Shadow?" Anthony repeated skeptically.

"_**Shadow! You can stop now!" **_a male voice said through an intercom in the room, and it took Maria a few seconds to realize that that was her grandfather speaking over the intercom.

The golden blur of light stopped abruptly and in its place was Shadow, looking up to the ceiling. He seemed a little out of breath, but other than that he didn't look _tired. _

"_**Alright Shadow, we're going to do one more training exercise, and then you can go get lunch." **_

"Okay!" Shadow called out, his voice echoing through the room. Barely a second later, a few platforms lowered down from the ceiling, what looked like machine guns propped on them. Maria let out a short gasp as Anthony only crossed his arms over his chest.

"I think this is the agility exercise…." Anthony commented.

"But-But…he'll get killed!" Maria exclaimed as she turned to Anthony and grabbed his shoulders, turning him toward her and shaking him.

"M-Maria!"

"We have to do something!"

"You two will do _nothing. _"

Maria and Anthony looked over to the door to see Calvin standing there, a scowl on his face. Maria let go of Anthony who glared at the doctor.

"But, he'll get killed." Maria almost whispered.

"And so let it be! One more failed experiment for your grandfather." Calvin said, his face now that of great annoyance.

"Calvin, you're so…so…" Maria began before Calvin cut her off.

"Both of you out."

"No, we're not going out!" Maria retorted. Anthony sent her a glare.

"Maria,"

"I said, get OUT!" Calvin shouted. Before Maria and Anthony could react, Calvin had already taken a hold of their wrists and dragged them out of the room, pushing them out the door. Both children fell onto their knees, and as Maria quickly got up and turned around, the door closed, leaving them out of the room. Maria bit her lip and banged on the door, her eyes moistened again.

"Let us in!" she screamed as Anthony got himself up and made his way toward her. He pulled her away from the door and Maria turned to look at him. "Anthony,"

"Maria, he'll be _fine. _He's the 'Ultimate Life Form', so he can't get killed as easily, can he? Besides isn't he supposed to be immortal?"

Maria sniffed and nodded.

"Well, yes."

"As long as Calvin's not running the exercises, he'll be just fine."

Maria sighed and nodded again.

"I guess you're right…." she looked over to the door again and frowned.

Maybe Anthony was right, he would be just fine.

* * *

**A/N: **I'm done. :3 Not much going on in this chapter, and sorry if it was a little disappointing after such a long wait. -_-

I'd like to thank everybody who's sticking with this story, and welcome those who are new to this story. I really appreciate the fact that people are reading this. Thanks again. Like I said, update will be next week. I expect this story to be over by October, so there's still a long way to go with this.

And next chapter will be longer than this one; this one was just too short.


	7. Pudding Surprise

**A/N: **Ah, lovely chapter seven.

Well, I got nothing else to say, except thanks to everybody for being so patient with the wait for the last chapter. I'm trying not to be so late with updates for this, but I can't make any promises. I've finally figured out an updating schedule I can deal with and updates will now be every weekend, or if not every weekend then every other weekend. It might seem like I forgot this story sometimes, but don't worry because it's _impossible _to forget that you're writing something, I'm just busy is all, and I tend to procrastinate a lot. (I also tend to not believe those who put in their author's notes that they 'forgot' their story after not updating for so long. How do you forget something that you've worked so hard on so easily?).

Oh, and this one's short too, but meh, I couldn't care less now, I mean I did have a little bit of writer's block but fortunately I still had enough motivation and ideas to come up with this chapter. Oh, and those who hate Calvin will love what happens to him this chapter, well I'm guessing. I mean the guy is a jerk. Short chapter is short again, but I just felt like updating and this is what I came up with.

I'll just shut-up now :3

On to chapter seven!

* * *

**Chapter 7: Pudding Surprise**

Anthony frowned as he stared at the bucket placed over the door before shaking his head. The old bucket-over-the-door trick. Classic

"Smart move Maria." he mumbled as he looked around, seeing if anybody was around him. There was nobody. He looked back up to the bucket and sighed. Well what was he going to do now? He wanted to go into the library, but how could he open the door without whatever it was that Maria had filled the bucket with, falling all over him?

He was surprised that she was even able to place the bucket over such a tall door. He then tried to figure out how to go through said door when he heard footsteps coming from the other side of the hall. Without a second thought, he ran to the other side of the hall and hid himself around the corner. Who could it be now?

"Anthony~!"

Anthony turned around to see Maria walking over to him, a big grin on her face.

"Maria, hi."

"Hey, wanna go to the library?" she asked innocently, the big grin still on her face. Anthony only stared at her. She obviously didn't know a thing about pranking, but he could be wrong. It had been two days exactly since they had witnessed Shadow's training, and Maria didn't exactly get over the shock of what she had seen. They had been scolded by Gerald after Calvin told him that the two children were watching Shadow train, but he assured her that he was just fine and that was enough to put Maria's mind at ease, but she was still anxious to see Shadow.

So what Anthony had suggested they do while she waited to see her little hedgehog friend, was that they'd start a prank war, though so far that wasn't going well. Maria had made many attempts to prank Anthony, not once having been able to. She had used the most clichéd tricks, especially the bucket-over-the-door trick she was trying to pull at the moment. Anthony hadn't even made a move yet, though that was because he was planning a pretty good prank, he was proud of himself actually for devising such a prank.

"No," Anthony said, returning her smile. "I don't want to go to the library today, I'd rather go play some basketball or something."

Maria frowned, shifting her feet as she clasped her hands together.

"Oh…well…I wanted to read something from the library, you know how much I love books."

"I do." Anthony replied. And it was true. Maria loved everything about libraries. She loved the feel of the pages between her fingers and the smell of old and new books. If she had been the only child on the ARK, then she would have spent most of her days in the library.

"Anthony…come on, please?" Maria was trying not to beg, but by the tone of her voice it sounded like she was begging anyway.

"No."

"Well hello Miracle," they suddenly heard Gerald say down the hall. Anthony peeked around the corner to see Gerald walking toward the library door, with Miracle walking toward him from the opposite direction.

"Hello Gerald, I see you have Shadow with you."

"Shadow?" Maria whispered and she pushed Anthony out of the way to look around the corner to see that Gerald was in fact with Shadow.

"Yes…have you seen Maria?" Gerald asked as they stopped in front of the library door, his hand on the door knob. Maria gasped and clapped her hand around her mouth.

"What?" Anthony asked, though he knew what had Maria so worried already.

"I put the bucket over the door to prank you, and now my grandfather-" Maria stopped as Anthony chuckled.

"I knew that had to be you who put the bucket over the door, and in plain sight!"

"What?" Maria said, a little dejectedly. She then watched as her grandfather started turning the door knob and before he could pull it, she jumped out into the hallway, forcing a smile on her face.

"Here I am grandpa!" Maria called out and she ran towards her grandfather and Miracle, Anthony hesitantly following after them. If Gerald did open the door, then he'd get covered in whatever was in the bucket, and then both of them would get in trouble, Maria for having done it and well…he didn't have a reason to be yelled at, at least not for Maria's horrible idea of a prank.

Both Gerald and Miracle turned around and smiled upon seeing both children, and when Shadow saw them, he smiled from ear to ear. Maria walked over to them and hugged her grandfather, smiling at Miracle who smiled back at her.

"Hello sweetie, and Anthony, hi!" Miracle waved sweetly at Anthony who waved back at her.

"Hi, Miracle. You're looking pretty today." Anthony said as he placed a hand against the library door, pushing the door against the frame to keep it from opening.

"Oh, well, thank you." Miracle thanked as Gerald took his hand off the knob. Maria sighed in relief as her grandfather returned her hug.

"Hello Maria my dear. I've been looking all over for you, and Shadow's been anxious to see you."

Maria looked up to Gerald, smiling genuinely now. She had been anxious to see Shadow too. She let go of her grandfather and hugged Shadow now. The young hedgehog stumbled backwards a little, surprised at such a gesture. Hugs were still weird to him and it felt awkward to have somebody embracing you so tightly.

She then let go of him and smiled down at him, Shadow staring up at her before returning that smile.

"Okay, I'll leave you three alone now; I have to discuss something with Miracle." Gerald said, looking up to Miracle who now frowned and nodded.

"Oh, of course…is it about-" she began before Gerald cut her off.

"Yes…." Gerald said, shooting her a glare.

"Alright, let's go." she said and turned around, Gerald following after her. Soon only Anthony, Maria and Shadow stood in front of the library door.

"That was close." Maria mumbled as she looked up to the bucket over the door. Shadow followed her gaze and frowned when he saw the bucket.

"Why is that bucket…?" but before he could finish the door knob began turning.

"Oh crap, Maria, that's your prank! You deal with it." Anthony said as he turned and ran back to the other end of the hall and disappeared around the corner. Maria turned and frowned.

"Hey! You jerk, come back here!" she shouted as she grabbed Shadow's wrist and dragged him down the hall after Anthony.

"It's every man for himself now!" Anthony shouted back. Maria turned the corner and just when she did, she heard somebody shout followed by a loud _clank_.

Maria stopped and peeked around the corner to see Calvin standing in front of the library door, the bucket she had placed over the door on the floor now and all the flour she had filled the bucket with now all over him and on the floor.

Well, maybe she didn't plan the bucket-over-the-door thing well enough.

* * *

"So why are you and Anthony doing this?" Shadow asked as he and Maria walked down the halls of the ARK. After having avoided becoming Calvin's prime suspects for dumping a whole bucket of flour on him, Maria explained to Shadow that they had initiated a prank war, well it was actually Anthony's idea to try and cheer her up though she didn't tell Shadow that. She had also told him that she had tried pranking Anthony at least six times between that day and the previous day, and not once was she able to successfully prank him.

"I guess it's just for fun." Maria answered.

"Maria?"

"Yes?"

"What's a prank?"

Maria smiled and looked down to Shadow who stared back up at her. She explained to him what a prank was quickly as she tied piece of string to stick with a toy spider on the other end. She knew that Anthony was terrified of spiders, and she knew it wasn't nice to exploit his fears, but she wanted at least one successful prank.

"What are you going to do with that?" Shadow asked after Maria had finished explaining to him what a prank was.

"Prank Anthony, he's scared of spiders."

"Wouldn't you be scaring him though?"

Maria opened her mouth to reply but then closed it, Shadow had a point. She wouldn't be pranking him, just scaring the crap out of him. She sighed and groaned.

"Can we go get lunch instead?" Shadow asked. Maria looked back to him, frowning now.

"Lunch? Are you hungry?" she asked.

"Yes…"

"Oh…well, okay. Lunch it is then…."

* * *

Maria and Shadow walked into the cafeteria and made their way to the line for lunch that was until they saw Anthony already serving himself and made their way toward him instead.

"Hi Anthony." Maria greeted as she took a tray and walked alongside Anthony, Shadow by her side.

"Hi," Anthony greeted back. He eyed the chocolate pudding, having put a firecracker into the tray when Maria walked into the cafeteria.

"I want to stop the pranking now." Maria suddenly said as she put some food onto her plate.

"Oh, so you want to quit the prank 'war' now?"

"Well, yes. I mean I haven't been able to actually prank you and you haven't even tried pranking me. I'm getting sick of worrying about when you'll prank me, but I figure you never will anyway." Maria answered.

Anthony smiled as Maria reached over and tried to get some chocolate pudding, though she quickly stopped and hummed.

"What's wrong?" Anthony asked as Shadow scooted down the line to the sandwiches. He had worked so hard on his prank and for her to just let it go to waste made him upset.

"Maybe I shouldn't get pudding; I mean…I'm not really that hungry."

"Oh…are you sure?"

"Yeah." Maria picked up her tray and made her way to her table. Anthony frowned as he watched Shadow follow after Maria. He'd have to make sure nobody got any pudding for the time being, but for the meantime he'd go eat with Maria and Shadow, unfortunately he wasn't able to join them at the table, for when he took a step away from the buffet table when he heard a loud _splat. _He turned around, fearing the worst, only to see Calvin standing in front of the chocolate pudding, his spoon in the pudding and pudding splattered everywhere with pieces of firecracker everywhere. How could he forget that he had put a firecracker in the pudding?

Calvin turned around and Anthony quickly made his way to a nearby table and sat down, not daring to look back as Calvin angrily left the cafeteria, tracking pudding everywhere. When he finally left, he heard somebody laughing and soon everybody in the cafeteria were laughing.

Well, at least his prank didn't go to waste.


	8. Birthday Cake

**A/N: **Right, so I would have updated this story yesterday, but I was busy yesterday. The good thing was that I was almost done with this chapter a few days ago, but unfortunately wasn't able to work on it until today. So I finished this chapter over the course of the past thirty minutes so I can finally update this story. I'm kind of in a rush right now, so I can't linger on this note for too long, and I will try to update next weekend, though I'm not sure.

So on to chapter eight :)

* * *

**Chapter 8: Birthday Cake**

**July**

It was weeks after the 'prank war' Maria and Anthony had initiated and unfortunately Calvin didn't forget about the firecracker in the pudding. Maria and Anthony knew that the man suspected that it was either one or both of them that had placed the firecracker in the pudding, though he didn't accuse them, he just maintained his distance from them which was just fine with the children.

The past few weeks on the ARK had been uneventful. Maria would spend time with Shadow when the latter wasn't being tested on, and Gerald finally allowed her to watch Shadow's training sessions and Maria couldn't believe how strong Shadow had grown. Of course Anthony didn't watch Shadow train. Maria knew that her best friend didn't like Shadow at all, and she was fine with that since Anthony tried being nice to Shadow now, probably just to get on her good side.

When she was watching Shadow train the past weeks, she noticed that his stamina, agility, and strength had increased each passing week, and that made her grandfather happy. Shadow was let out early from his capsule after all, and due to being released early, he was weak. Now that he had grown stronger, she noticed that the scientists, her grandfather included had grown more cautious around Shadow. He was the Ultimate Life Form. He was supposed to be powerful and be able to help her grandfather find a cure for her illness, but despite the fact that Shadow was being supervised more closely now, she was still able to play with him and spend time with him.

She had done so many things with him the past few weeks. She had taught him basic math, how to read and write, and how to draw. She had completed puzzles with him, up to twenty pieces and they had tried puzzles with more pieces but always got stuck and ended up abandoning the puzzle all together. They had painted pictures with paint her parents had sent her from earth for her birthday.

She had described to Shadow, what earth was like, had told him about her family; her mother, father, little brother, aunts, uncles and cousins, and even the small kitten named Snowball she had to leave behind when her grandfather had taken her to live on the ARK. She missed Snowball, who by now was probably a fully grown cat, and she wanted so desperately to have a pet on the ARK but pets were strictly prohibited.

Shadow seemed to take a strong interest in the life Maria had left behind and about the blue planet he had grown accustomed to seeing whenever he'd go to the Viewing Room with Maria. At some point he had asked about Anthony's life and Maria explained to him about Anthony's own family, how he had to go live with his father on the ARK and leave behind his friends and everything he knew on the planet. And with that information Shadow had come to the conclusion that it was difficult being the only two children on the ARK. At some point Shadow had asked Maria why birthdays were so special. He had heard her mention to Anthony about baking her grandfather a birthday cake, and had even wondered what a birthday was.

So Maria had explained to him what birthdays were, how they celebrated a person's existence every year, with presents and cake. When Shadow had asked her if he had a birthday, she responded with yes. Shadow did share the same birthday as her after all, since he was released on her birthday. He then asked her if birthdays were the only special days that people celebrated. Maria explained to him that there were other 'special' days called holidays, such as New Year's, Valentine's Day, Independence Day, and Christmas among others.

Shadow seemed so enthusiastic about learning about the world, and Maria couldn't help but feel bad for him. He would probably never be able to go down to earth, she probably might never be able to go to earth herself again, though Anthony was a little luckier, there was a strong possibility that he would be able to go back to earth one day, when his father would finally leave the ARK, though that would mean that she would never be able to see her friend again.

Finally it was her grandfather's birthday. Gerald had dropped off Shadow with Maria as usual, and Anthony as usual made a remark about Shadow, though he seemed to be getting used to the hedgehog's presence. Both Maria and Anthony had wished Gerald a happy birthday before he left to go work. And when he finally disappeared from view, Maria had turned to Anthony and Shadow with a big grin on her face.

"We're going to make my grandpa a birthday cake."

Anthony and Shadow stared at Maria for a few seconds before Anthony finally responded.

"How? We can't use the kitchen to make a cake, and do you even _know _how to bake a cake?"

"Of course I know how to bake a cake!" Maria responded, still smiling at both of her friends. "I learned back home and baking was my favorite hobby; that was…until I had to come live on the ARK. Then reading became my favorite hobby since I'm not really allowed in the kitchen much."

"So how do you suppose we're going to go to the kitchen to make your grandfather a cake, if they won't allow you in the kitchen?" Anthony asked a little impatiently.

"I asked the kitchen staff if I can bake a cake. The head chef offered to bake the cake for me, but I told her that I want to make the cake myself." Maria explained and Anthony frowned.

"Maria…baking a cake?"

"Please help me?" Maria pouted as Anthony stared at her before he finally sighed and nodded.

"Fine, let's go to the kitchen." he said hesitantly. Maria smiled at him.

"Let's go then. Come on Shadow!"

* * *

"Honestly, I'm not very comfortable leaving you three here."

"Don't worry Carla, we'll be just fine." Maria said reassuringly, though the woman who was the head chef aboard the ARK looked at her with concern in her green eyes as she tied her hair up into a bun. Carla frowned as she then crossed her arms across her chest.

"Sweetie, I know you mean well for your grandfather, we all love Dr. Gerald very much, but please let me make the cake."

"No, please! Just let us make it!" Maria pouted as she stared up at Carla who stared back at her for a moment before sighing.

"Alright," she said reluctantly as she stepped away from the door that lead to the kitchen. "But I'm returning in _one _hour." Carla said before turning and walking away from the kitchen door. Anthony was about to protest Maria's idea of baking a cake once again but Maria quickly ran into the kitchen, pushing open the door and leaving it open for Shadow and Anthony. Shadow followed after her without another word, and Anthony reluctantly walked after them.

He stepped into the kitchen and looked around the room, which had to be at least half the size of the cafeteria, with steel walls and appliances against the walls. A long steel counter with a hood was in the middle of the room. He then noticed the large window on the wall across the room, offering a view of earth and the empty void of space.

"So…what's a cake again?" Shadow asked as he watched Maria walk over to the fridge and pull the door open, the light from the refrigerator illuminating her face. She reached in to grab a few things as she explained to Shadow what a cake was.

"It's something you eat on special occasions, like birthdays or weddings. You do know by now what a pastry is, right?"

"Yes…."

"Well, cake is a pastry." Maria said as she finally stepped away from the fridge with a few items in her arms. "Anthony, can you look for the cake mix?"

Anthony turned to look at Maria and grumbled as he began his search for the box of cake mix as Maria set the items on the counter. Shadow watched with mild interest as Maria then walked away to look for the mixer.

"Found the cake mix." Anthony said neutrally from where he was in the room. Maria turned to see Anthony across from her digging into a cabinet before he turned to her. "Do you want chocolate or vanilla? Or maybe carrot cake?"

"Hmmm…." Maria turned back to what she was doing as she took the mixer out of another cabinet. The chefs on the ARK used the heavy duty mixers, the ones usually used in bakeries, but she supposed that using one of those mixers probably wasn't the best idea, so she searched instead for a handheld mixer.

"Um…I think my grandpa likes vanilla." Maria finally answered and Anthony begrudgingly took the box of vanilla cake mix to the counter.

"Why don't you just make this cake from scratch?" Anthony asked.

"Because…honestly, I don't know how to make a cake from scratch. Well actually I just don't remember how. So cake mix is easier and we just need oil, water, and eggs." Maria explained as she eyed the ingredients in front of her. Shadow walked over to her and frowned.

"Why didn't you just let Carla make the cake?" he asked as he looked up to Maria.

"Because I want this cake to be special."

"Well your grandfather wouldn't have known if Carla made it or not, you could have just taken the credit from her." Anthony said and Maria shot him a quick glare.

"I'm not taking the credit from somebody else." she said as she then turned and walked away from the counter to look for a bowl.

"Maria, I think Anthony's right." Shadow agreed. Maria turned to look at Shadow, disappointment clear on her face.

"Shadow…"

"Maria, come on. It's not too late to call Carla!" Anthony begged. Maria's look of disappointment quickly turned into that of annoyance.

"We are going to make this cake ourselves, and you are going to like it!" she said, earning a groan from both Anthony and Shadow.

"But Maria!"

Maria walked back to the counter with a bowl in hand and set the bowl down on it.

"Start mixing!" she said as she pointed to the ingredients. She reached over to an egg as Anthony groaned.

"Maria,"

"Now."

* * *

"Shadow, stop breaking eggs!" Maria exclaimed as she turned to Shadow who had dropped yet another egg on the floor. The young hedgehog turned to Maria as he picked up another egg from the carton and smiled meekly at her.

"But it's fun." he said. Maria glared at him and Shadow's smile quickly turned to a frown.

"Shadow, we can't be too wasteful with food. The supply ship doesn't come until next month and the food supply is running low. So please, _stop." _

"Maria, how do you turn this on?" Anthony asked as he poked at the mixer. Maria turned to him and gasped when she saw that Anthony had poured most of the cake mix on the counter and on his clothes, only some had landed on the floor.

"Anthony!"

"What? It was an accident." he said as he started to scoop up some of the mix from the counter and into the bowl. Maria sighed as she leaned against the counter. Only ten minutes had passed since they started mixing the batter, and Shadow had broken half a carton of eggs, Anthony had spilled the cake mix. The only things that weren't spilled while preparing the batter was the water and oil.

"You press this button." Maria said as she pressed the 'on' button on the mixer. Anthony jumped back, startled as the mixer came to life and Maria shook her head.

"Anthony, calm down, it's not going to kill you." Maria assured as she took hold of the mixer and started mixing the batter up. Shadow leaned in closer to her to watch. Maria smiled down at him as she set the bowl down on the counter, the mixer still on as she grabbed Shadow's hand and made him grip the mixer.

"Don't move your hand, okay? Actually don't move at all. I'm going to go find something to bake this cake in." Maria turned around and went to search for said item and Shadow only watched after her as he continued mixing the batter. But not a few second after she turned around, she felt something smack her on the back of her head, and when she placed her hand on the back of her head and grabbed whatever it was, her hand came back sticky with cream colored batter.

"Shadow!" Maria cried as she turned around only to see that Anthony and Shadow were fighting over the mixer which was still on and the batter was flying all over the place. "Anthony!"

"Wait, he's doing it wrong!" Anthony exclaimed as he continued to wrestle the mixer from Shadow.

"I was doing it just fine!" Shadow yelled back as he pulled the mixer toward him.

"Guys!" Maria screamed as she ran over to them. She grabbed the mixer and tried turning it off as Shadow and Anthony continued wrestling for it. "Stop!" she shouted.

"Maria!" somebody then shouted, and almost immediately all three stopped wrestling for the mixer. Shadow and Anthony let go of it and stepped away, leaving Maria holding it in her hands. She then turned around to see Carla standing at the door, angrily crossing her arms across her chest. Maria frowned as she turned the mixer off.

"Carla, I can explain."

"No, sweetie, you can't. You know what?" Carla said as she walked over to Maria and took the mixer from her. "Why don't you three just go off and play. _I'll _bake the cake."

Maria opened her mouth to protest but Carla held her finger up to silence her.

"I don't want another word from you. I'll call you to the cafeteria when the cake is done, just go. Now."

Maria frowned and sighed. "Yes ma'am." she said before reaching over and grabbing Shadow by the wrist. "Come on Shads." she said as she walked him over to the door. "Sorry Carla."

"Yeah, we're really sorry about the kitchen. We'll clean it up." Anthony said as he followed after Maria. He then quickly turned around and whispered something to her.

"I told her that this was a bad idea! I'm really sorry about the mess though!"

Carla sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose as all three walked out of the kitchen, leaving her alone.

* * *

The cake turned out just as Maria had imagined it. With red and blue frosting, and 'Happy Birthday Gerald!' on the front in white frosting. Carla had even placed a birthday candle on top in the shape of a question mark. Maria smiled as her grandfather hugged her.

"Thank you my dear, as well as too all of you." Gerald said as he looked around to everybody who was standing around him, which included Carla, Miracle, Anthony, and Shadow. "Maria, Carla told me about the kitchen…." Gerald glanced down at Maria who pushed away from him and frowned.

"I…well we offered to clean up." she said and Gerald chuckled. "You young lady, are going to clean the kitchen up along with Shadow and Anthony. No complaining, or 'but's. Carla did the favor of baking you the cake, the least you can do is clean up the kitchen for her. Now what flavor is it?"

"Well, what's your favorite flavor?"

"Chocolate."

"Oh…" Maria glanced down to the cake and bit her lip.

"Maria? What flavor is it?"

"Vanilla…."


	9. Halloween

**A/N: **So here's lovely, lovely chapter nine. Thanks so much to those who reviewed last chapter who include: Duskzilla, TMNTLittleTomboy, lydiathetigeropean, Theanimorpherz, and Anthea Triton, thanks so much guys! :)

This chapter right here is an example of why I don't write for the horror genre. I'm horrible at it -_-

I had another chapter plot planned for chapter nine, but it wasn't working out so I decided to just to go ahead and work on Halloween instead, though I didn't know what to write about until inspiration hit me a few days ago. My cousin showed me a game called '_Slender'_ last week and it is seriously the scariest game I have ever played, and this story is sort of based off that game, though not entirely. If you haven't played the game and you don't mind pop-ups, then check it out on YouTube. Though don't if you're faint of heart, get scared pretty easily, or just _hate_ pop-ups and I'm talking about the random pop-ups that scare the s**t out of you.

After this chapter there are only **eight chapters left!  
**  
Disclaimer: I hate adding disclaimers in every chapter since it isn't necessary, but I feel the need to do so this time. I do not own the concept of Slender, or Slender at all, and I obviously don't own any SEGA characters. Concepts and characters belong to their respective owners. And I'm not responsible for anybody who probably gets traumatized if they do decide to check out Slender on YouTube. Slender was just the inspiration for this chapter, I'm not exactly recommending the game to anybody.

* * *

**Chapter 9: Halloween**

**October**

Months passed by and nothing eventful happened on the ARK. Gerald and the other scientists continued running tests on Shadow, training him and he had become stronger. Maria continued teaching him everything she knew, and now Shadow was more alert about the world around him. He knew everybody on the ARK, and he picked up things quickly which pleased Gerald greatly. But despite Shadow growing stronger and learning things, he still acted like a child. The previous month though, there was one thing that made Maria extremely happy, her parents and little brother visited her on the ARK and spent a week with her before going back home, but not without trying to convince her to go back with them when they found out about Shadow but she was able to stay after Gerald convinced them that Shadow wasn't dangerous fortunately. Now it was October and the month passed by pretty quickly and soon it was Halloween.

"Why can't every day be like this?" Anthony asked as he chewed on candy.

"I know right!" Maria agreed as she looked through the bag of candy in her hands. Halloween was one of their favorite days on the ARK, one of the only holidays on the ARK other than Christmas, where everybody got into the spirit. The first year Maria lived on the ARK, she and Anthony had decided to try and go trick or treating. Everybody thought it was cute even though they had no candy to give, the next year they gave out handfuls of candy to the children. Now this year Maria had brought along Shadow, much to Anthony's annoyance though Shadow's presence didn't really bother him anymore.

"Maria, why did they give us candy though?" Shadow asked as he peeked into his own bag of candy. Maria turned to him.

"It's Halloween, Shadow. Every Halloween children dress up and go trick-or-treating and so they get candy."

"But we didn't dress up."

"We don't have to really." Maria replied. Shadow wrinkled his nose as he closed the bag. They turned the corner and continued on toward the Viewing Room, where they agreed to go watch a movie before going to the cafeteria for dinner. Once they entered the room, they all went to the couches there and Maria and Anthony immediately threw all the contents of their bags next to them and Shadow only watched in confusion as they started trading candy but he didn't really think much of it as he began eating his own candy.

A few minutes passed and they finished trading off candy. Maria took a bite out of chocolate bar before turning to the TV at the other side of the room. "So what should we watch?" she asked as she got up and just as she took a step forward, the lights overhead flickered before turning off completely.

"Maria?" Anthony called out.

"Yes?"

"Why did the lights go out?"

"I don't know." Maria frowned as she turned to look at Shadow and Anthony who were staring back at her. The light from the panoramic window illuminated the whole room, giving off an eerie glow. They all remained silent for a few seconds before the intercom overhead came to life.

"_ATTENTION, WE ARE CURRENTLY HAVING PROBLEMS WITH THE ENGINE RIGHT NOW SO POWER WILL BE CUT OFF WHILE WE INVESTIGATE THE ISSUE. THE ARK IS CURRENTLY RUNNING ON THE BACK-UP GENERATOR AND THE GRAVITY CONTROLS HAVE BEEN SET SO THAT THE SAME INCIDENT AS A FEW MONTHS AGO DOES NOT HAPPEN AGAIN. POWER WILL BE BACK ON WITHIN AN HOUR, THANK YOU FOR YOUR PATIENCE AND UNDERSTANDING"_

"Well this is inconvenient. How are we supposed to watch a movie now?" Anthony asked as he stood up. Maria sighed before walking over to the couch and picking up her bag of candy.

"I guess we should go to the cafeteria right now." she said before making her way to the door.

"Why?" Anthony picked up his bag and followed after her with Shadow walking right behind him.

"Because almost everybody is there right now, eating dinner. I know we should probably stay here, but why not go get some dinner before the food spoils? There's chocolate cake for desert."

"Chocolate cake…" Anthony said thoughtfully as they left the room. "…okay let's go." Anthony stopped though when he realized that he couldn't see anything in the hallway. "Maria, it's dark."

"I know!" Maria said as she bumped into Shadow. "Shadow, is that you?" she asked as he placed a hand on him.

"Yeah, I'm here." Shadow replied and Maria sighed before she placed a hand on the wall and began making her way toward the cafeteria, but not before stopping by the janitor's closet, or at least what she thought was the janitor's closet. She touched the door knob on the door and opened it before stepping inside. She groped around on what she thought to be shelves before finding something that was cool to the touch and grasped onto it before pushing a small button on the side and to her relief, it was the flashlight. She looked around the closet with her new found source of light before leaving what was luckily the janitor's closet and turning to Shadow.

"Okay, so we're going…." Maria stopped when she only saw Shadow standing behind her. She looked around the hallway before turning back to Shadow. "Where's Anthony?" she asked. Shadow shrugged.

"I don't know."

Maria sighed as she turned around, leading Shadow down the hallway though just as she reached the other end, the flashlight flickered for a few seconds before turning off.

"Oh crap!" Maria hit the head of the flashlight against the palm of her hand before stopping and throwing it on the floor. "Let's just keep going." Maria said. They walked down the hallway, their shoes clicking against the tile floor before another distinct sound caught her off guard. She heard loud footsteps down the hall, and she only picked up her pace with Shadow following behind her, and at some point she stopped and turned to Shadow. She didn't want to see who it was following after them, but she supposed that they were probably gone now. Maybe it was just somebody from the lab?

"Maria, where are we going?" Shadow asked irritably before Maria shushed him. It was suddenly silent, as both Maria and Shadow stood in the middle of the hallway. Neither moved or said a word before finally Shadow broke the silence.

"Maria, who's that down there?" Shadow asked. Maria bit her lip as she glanced over her shoulder and looked down the hall to see somebody standing at the other side of the hall. She felt chills run down her spine, and the hair on the back of her neck stand when she heard a blood curdling shriek come from where the figure stood as it began walking toward them. Without another thought, she grabbed Shadow's wrist and she practically dragged him down the hall. She didn't know where she was going (not that she could anyway since the flashlight gave out), but she kept running anyway.

They both continued running, though at some point they stopped when Maria felt as though her heart would burst out of her chest, her lungs and throat burning as she leaned against a wall. She looked around her as she let go of Shadow's wrist, and was relieved to see the library door, the small sign overhead was actually what gave the library away.

"Maria, what are you running from?" Shadow asked. Maria turned to him, still trying to regain her breath as she panted.

"S-Shadow-" she began before Shadow spoke again.

"Are you scared?" he asked her. Maria stared at him and though she hated to admit it, she nodded. She _was _scared, though she couldn't understand why Shadow wasn't. "Why should you be? I don't see a reason to be scared. I'm not really scared."

"Oh Shadow, that's because you haven't watched enough horror movies." Maria replied before standing up straight.

"Well if horror movies make you scared about anything, then I don't see why people like watching them."

Maria sighed. Shadow had a point. She should probably just stop watching horror movies all together. She hated the scare, but at the same time the scare was fun. She looked around them, and just as she turned back to Shadow she stopped when she saw at the corner of her eye, something standing at the other end of the hallway. She felt her heart race in her chest as she quickly grabbed Shadow's wrist and dragged him to through the library door and once she was inside, she closed it.

"Maria?" Shadow said before Maria clapped her hand over his mouth.

"Shadow, be quiet." she whispered as she then dragged him to the other side of the library. It was dark, but fortunately the window provided a little light so they could navigate through the aisles without bumping into anything. Eventually Maria stopped and Shadow bumped into her, almost knocking her down in the process. She then stopped and stood still when she heard the library door open and close, followed by footsteps, the sound of shoes clicking against the part of the floor that was tile before the footsteps became muffled by the rest of the floor that was carpet.

"Maria…."

Maria clapped her hand over Shadow's mouth again, and Shadow quickly glared at her. Maria placed a finger over her lips, and Shadow rolled his eyes, nodding in understanding before Maria took her hand away from his mouth. She turned around, and just as she did, she saw somebody standing in front of her and she felt herself go cold in fear.

"Oh…S-Shadow!" Maria screamed as she stepped forward before falling onto the floor, the figure getting closer and closer to her until she felt somebody grab her shoulders. She screamed, balls of tears forming on the corners of her eyes before she heard laughing. Who could be laughing at a moment like this? She then stopped when she heard the laughing grow louder, followed by the sound of the intercom coming to life again.

'_ATTENTION, THE PROBLEM WITH THE ENGINE HAS BEEN FIXED. WE APOLOGIZE FOR ANY INCONVENIENCE, AND YOU MAY NOW GO BACK TO YOUR DUTIES. THANK YOU FOR YOUR PATIENCE AND HAVE A HAPPY HALLOWEEN!'_

Maria opened her eyes to see Shadow standing in front of her, the lights overhead now flickering back on and then she saw Anthony standing behind Shadow, laughing, holding his sides as he did so.

"M-Maria! Y-You…oh that was priceless!" Anthony laughed as he leaned against a bookshelf. Maria blinked as Shadow helped her up.

"A-Anthony? That was you?"

Anthony stopped laughing enough to nod his head before showing her a tape recorder he had in his hand.

"So the sounds we heard…?"

"I recorded them a week ago. I wanted to prank you on Halloween, and I already had everything planned out, though the lights suddenly going away wasn't exactly planned. That was just coincidence. I scared you, didn't I?" Anthony smiled at Maria who only glared at him before turning on her heel and walking away. Anthony frowned as he took a step forward. "Wait, Maria!"

"Just leave me alone!" Maria shouted. Anthony looked down to Shadow who only stared back at him.

"That was real mature." Shadow said as he crossed his arms over his chest. Anthony scoffed.

"Like you know anything about maturity!"

"You know she's going to stay mad at you for a while."

Anthony sighed and face palmed himself. "I know…." he said as he ran his hand down his face before looking back down to Shadow. "But she'll get over it soon…I hope."


	10. Holiday Blues

**A/N: **I'm back! :) And with the Christmas chapter! I would have updated last weekend but I was sick and didn't feel like doing anything. Actually I was bedridden for two days so I couldn't do anything if I wanted to and I _still _don't feel like doing anything now, but this story must be finished! Hopefully by October or earlier. And behold this story's cover. Well it's not much of a cover since it looks pretty boring to me. It's just basically an old locket, though I would like to say that it's actually the locket Miracle gave to Maria for her birthday in the first chapter. You guys didn't forget about the locket did you? It's going to be kind of important in the final chapters, and the picture is actually mine (the locket is too, but I don't wear it anymore). I would have drawn a cover, but I don't have Photoshop so I couldn't.

Well anyway, thanks to everybody who reviewed! I know that I always say that, but I _really _do appreciate it. Thanks to those who fave/alert too; It's nice knowing that people are reading this and actually like this.

Oh yeah, and my response to Anonymous' review: Well I can't exactly say if I will use your idea since I already have everything planned out, and when I say everything I mean from now to the last chapter. I might use your idea, but if I don't then it might be similar. And Calvin…yeah he's going to do something but I can't say because then it would give the ending I have planned away, and I don't want to do that. Sorry if I didn't provide an exact answer to your review.

And another thing, this story will now be slightly AUish…. It's been a long time since I've played _Shadow the Hedgehog, _and I can't exactly remember the plot. I still can't think straight enough to look up the game's plot [that cold really screwed me up :( ]. I can't play the game either because I gave it to my little cousin as a birthday gift last year after he lost his copy. So no mention of Black Doom or anything since this is story is mostly in Shadow, Maria, and Anthony's POV anyway.

* * *

**Chapter 10: Holiday Blues**

**December **

Weeks passed and everything was just as normal as could be. Everybody was still working feverishly on their own jobs while Maria, Anthony, and Shadow hung out like they always did. Shadow's training did begin to become an almost daily thing though and there were times when Gerald didn't drop Shadow off to Maria, leaving only Maria and Anthony alone to spend the day with each other. The months of November seemed to pass by really quickly and now most of December had passed by too.

It was Christmas Eve and everybody had been given the next few days off to relax and celebrate whatever holidays they celebrated back on earth. Though nobody really felt the holiday cheer, the only place on the ARK that was inviting during holidays was the cafeteria, where decorations would usually be placed. Most everybody was at the cafeteria at the moment actually, except for Maria, Anthony, and Shadow who were in the Viewing Room.

All three sat in front of the window, each with a mug of hot chocolate. They were sitting around a plate of vanilla and chocolate cupcakes topped with red or green frosting and sprinkles in the shapes of stars or Christmas trees. Carla would always given Anthony and Maria a plate of cupcakes on Christmas Eve and that year had been no different. Of course they had to eat dinner before being allowed to take the cupcakes. Anthony reached for a chocolate one which he quickly figured out were the ones with red frosting and took a big bite out of it before glancing over to Maria who was just staring out toward earth while Shadow, who was sitting in the middle, took a bite out of his own cupcake.

"Maria?"

Maria turned to Anthony who was taking another bite out of his cupcake.

"Yes?"

"Is something wrong? You seem distant today."

Maria sighed and shook her head. "It's nothing." she said before taking a sip of her hot chocolate which wasn't so hot anymore, but was just at the right temperature to drink it without burning her tongue.

"Maria, did you video chat with your parents and brother today?" Anthony asked her.

"Yeah, I did." Maria replied, smiling now. "I guess I just really miss them. I want to spend Christmas with them for once after living on the ARK for two years-"

"Hasn't it been three? Sorry, I lost track." Anthony interrupted. Maria sighed.

"The point is that I would love to spend Christmas back home. I love sitting around an actual Christmas tree when everybody's opening presents. We open presents here but it's not the same. The last time I spent Christmas on earth it was snowing and I played in the snow almost the whole day. I miss snow too Anthony!" Maria frowned before reaching for a cupcake and she didn't immediately take a bit out of it, but stared at it for a few seconds before sinking her teeth into it.

"I miss spending Christmas on earth too, but it's the same for me here and there. I don't have any family other than my dad, remember? And I miss snow too, who doesn't like snow?"

"People who don't like snow?" Maria replied.

"Of course."

"What's snow?" Shadow suddenly asked and both Maria and Anthony turned to look at him as he reached for yet another cupcake.

"It's frozen water, not frozen enough so that it's hard as ice, but enough for it to be…fluffy? Is that the right word?" Maria glanced over to Anthony who shrugged.

"I guess."

"It's fun playing in it when there's a lot of snow." Maria continued.

"But how do you play on snow?" Shadow asked her.

"It falls from the sky."

"The sky?" Shadow repeated. He had seen pictures of what the sky looked like back on earth, it was blue and puffy white clouds were usually seen in the sky but he had never seen a picture of snow, only rain and the clear blue skies.

"Yeah, it's really pretty when it's falling down; Especially at night. Oh Shadow, how I wish that we can go to earth right now to see what I've told you about the last few months." Maria said.

"We will one day, won't we?" Shadow stared at Maria who bit her lip and began shaking her head.

"I don't know Shadow, I mean-" Maria began before Anthony interrupted her again.

"You will go back to earth Maria, don't think that you won't." Anthony stated. Maria glanced back over to him and smiled.

"Thanks."

Shadow stared at her for a few seconds before reaching for the last cupcake and taking a bite out of it. He didn't like seeing Maria so upset, especially on a holiday everybody seemed to enjoy. But he knew a way to make her happy; at least he hoped he would make her happy….

* * *

The next morning, Christmas morning, Maria was making her way back to her room after having eaten lunch. She was taking a bite out of a huge chocolate chip cookie (Carla had baked up three batches of said cookies), before stopping in front of a window, and looking out toward earth. Her family was probably celebrating Christmas at the moment. She had seen her parents on video chat, yes, but that wasn't enough to satisfy her need to see them. She needed to _really _see them. Her parents had told her that they would go to the ARK to celebrate Christmas with her, but that there were no spaceships going out to the ARK for weeks, at least until late January. Maria wouldn't be celebrating Christmas alone though, there was going to be a Christmas party later on in the day in the cafeteria, and she'd be around everybody, including Shadow.

With a sigh she finished up her cookie and wiped away her unshed tears, before somebody called out to her.

"Maria!"

Maria stopped when she saw Anthony running up to her, a big smile on his face. Maria smiled back sadly and cleared her throat.

"Hey Anthony." she said, her voice cracking a little. Anthony didn't seem to notice though since all he did was grab her wrist and pull her down the hall.

"Come on, Shadow and I have a surprise for you."

Maria stared at Anthony in slight confusion and surprise.

"You and Shadow working together? That's a first." she stated and Anthony glanced over his shoulder.

"Yeah…well we agreed that you were pretty upset with not being able to see your family, or spend Christmas back on earth, so we came up with an idea."

"And that idea would be?"

"Just wait and see." was all Anthony said as he led her to the gym. Now Maria was really confused. What could be in the gym that would cheer her up? Anthony let go of her wrist finally and ran toward the pool room, Maria following closely behind. He then opened the door and held it open as he turned to Maria, grinning at her.

"Anthony, what-" Maria began before stepping into the pool room. She immediately stopped and turned to look at Anthony before looking back into the room. The pool which was usually filled with water year round wasn't exactly filled with water, but the water was frozen over and skating on the frozen water was Shadow. Well he wasn't exactly skating, more like slipping around. "How did this happen?" Maria asked as she walked over to the pool.

"Well I was wondering what we could do for you yesterday night before we all went to sleep and Miracle told me that the pool room has a control room to regulate the water temperature. I went to look for it last night and found it over there," Anthony pointed toward a door on the other side of the room. "And set the water so it would freeze over. It's solid enough to not break so I think we'll be just fine."

Maria smiled, her eyes watering up a little before turning and hugging Anthony.

"Oh, thank you so much! You didn't have to go through the trouble though." she said, tears stinging her eyes.

"But I wanted to…now that I think about it, do you know how to ice skate?" Anthony asked.

"Yeah, a little. Do you?"

"Not…really." Anthony answered, blushing a little.

"Then I guess I'll teach both of you since Shadow obviously doesn't know how. Speaking of Shadow," Maria said before turning around and walked over to the pool. "Shadow!" she called out. Anthony smiled as he closed the door to the room and walked over to the pool.

He liked seeing Maria happy.

* * *

The next few days passed by rather quickly, and soon it was New Year's Eve. Maria, Anthony, and Shadow were in the Viewing Room while everybody else watched the festivities down on earth from various giant computer screens usually used for video chats on the ARK. Maria and Anthony didn't like watching the festivities since it usually brought upon nostalgia which was a pretty depressing feeling. Maria had explained to Shadow the concept of New Year's Eve, and he seemed a little excited about starting a new year.

At the moment they were looking out toward earth, where they could see bright explosions over a few continents. They 'knew' the New Year was going to be just as good as the previous year, unfortunately they didn't know how wrong they were.


	11. He's Dangerous

**A/N: **Well, this story is about to end in another four chapters.

Sorry about the really short chapter, but this chapter is actually pretty important to set up the final chapters so think of it as a mini-chapter.

I haven't written something this short since I wrote my first story on this site. I would have combined this with the next chapter, but it isn't going to work well so this will be its own chapter. And I just realized that I updated sooner than usual. I haven't updated this soon after the last update since the week this story was first published.

The next update will probably be next weekend or if not, then on the first day of September since I have to start getting ready to go back to college.

Thanks again to everybody who reviewed, faved and/or alerted :3.

* * *

**Chapter 11: He's Dangerous**

**January**

The first few weeks of January passed by pretty quickly; soon it would be February. After the New Year began everybody got back to work, working on any important projects they had put on hiatus for the holidays, especially Gerald. He didn't allow Shadow to go with Maria as much as he used to since he was now putting the hedgehog through more rigorous training. Shadow had become even stronger than he had when he had first woken up and Gerald wanted him to maintain that strength (there was also the fact that he still had to run tests on Shadow).

It had been a week already since Shadow has last seen Maria, and Gerald was about to drop him off with her when Miracle told Gerald that somebody from G.U.N. was asking for him at the main loading dock. So now there Gerald was with Shadow at the loading dock, where ships transporting supplies and passengers unloaded.

"Professor, you never told me what G.U.N. is." Shadow said, looking up to the professor. Gerald didn't say a word for a few seconds before finally answering.

"I will explain to you what G.U.N. is at another time Shadow," Gerald said. Shadow could detect the nervousness in his tone and frowned. Why would Gerald be nervous? Suddenly a man, about in his early thirties wearing a dark blue business suit walked up to them, his dark hair combed back.

"Professor Gerald Robotnik?" the man said, and Gerald nodded as the man extended his hand toward the professor who shook his hand. "My name is Laurent; I'm the supervisor of G.U.N's Laboratory Unit. Sorry for dropping in unexpected, but I was sent from the G.U.N. commander because it is suspected that a super weapon is being held here."

Gerald furrowed his brow and cleared his throat as Laurent looked down to see Shadow standing next to the professor, staring intently at the man.

"Who might this be?"

"This is Project Shadow." Gerald answered and Laurent looked back up to look at the professor, frowning.

"_That's _Project Shadow? That's the super weapon?" Laurent asked skeptically and Shadow only glared at him, not saying a word.

"He is the Ultimate Life form. I did not create him under the intention of creating a super weapon, he is simply an experiment." Gerald replied calmly, though he was starting to get impatient with the man.

"Of course…." Laurent frowned as he stared at Shadow. "I have reason to believe that this 'Project Shadow' of yours is dangerous. From these status reports you've sent me, I can see that his power has increased tenfold since his awakening." Laurent said as he skimmed through a packet of papers he had in his hands before looking up to see Gerald frowning, sighing before glancing down to Shadow who was now looking down to his shoes. The hedgehog then looked up to meet the professor's gaze.

Gerald didn't know exactly why Laurent was on the ARK, but he didn't have a good feeling about a representative from G.U.N. visiting the ARK.

"Nonsense. I initiated Project Shadow to help my granddaughter with her illness and to give others a better life-" Gerald began before Laurent interrupted him.

"Excuse me for interrupting you, but somebody tipped G.U.N off that Project Shadow would pose a huge threat to personal safety."

"A _tip?"_ Gerald repeated. Now he was mad, no angry even. Who would tell G.U.N such a lie?! Though the sad thing was that deep down he knew that Shadow was too dangerous to be around others, but there was too much good in the young hedgehog for him to do something that would threaten other's safety. "And who my good man sent you this 'tip'?"

"That information is confidential. I'm sorry, but it is standard procedure to conceal the identity of anybody who gives tips to G.U.N."

"Okay, I understand." Gerald nodded, seeming calm as Laurent skimmed through the papers in his hands again. In reality, Gerald wanted to go back to the lab and demand to know who was the one who lied to G.U.N.

"Good, good. That's very good." Laurent said, not having listened to Gerald since he was still skimming through papers. "And the person who tipped G.U.N. off also had reason to believe that you acquired extraterrestrial help in creating Project Shadow."

Gerald felt his face go pale. Who could have known that? He was the only one who knew how Shadow was actually created, with what DNA he had been created with. Shadow looked back up to the professor, very confused.

"Extraterrestrial?" Shadow repeated.

"It talks, how nice." Laurent stated. Gerald shot him a glare.

"I assure you that Project Shadow is not a threat to public safety."

"That is what you say, but we cannot take any risks. If Project Shadow is not controlled or closed down by this time next month, then we will be forced to take action." Laurent said as he took out a document from the packet he had in his hands and handed it to Gerald who hesitantly took it. "Good day to you, sir." Laurent then turned around and left Gerald standing there with Shadow. The two watched as Laurent walked back to the ship and boarded it before turning to look at each other.

"What's going to happen professor?" Shadow asked him, still frowning. Gerald sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"I don't know Shadow, but if we don't do something then they are going to force me to get rid of you." Gerald stared at Shadow and frowned as the young hedgehog's eyes widened. "Don't worry though my boy, we'll figure out something…hopefully."

Though Gerald _did _have something in mind to keep G.U.N. from bothering them. He worked too hard on Project Shadow and Shadow was his most successful attempt at the Project yet. To allow G.U.N. to just come and take him away or worse, destroy him would be crazy, and cruel. Besides Shadow was kind of like a son to him and Gerald was already getting closer to finding a way to cure Maria's illness, he couldn't let his granddaughter down.


	12. The Traitor

**A/N:**. Thanks so much to everybody who reviewed and faved/alerted this story :). This story will end in another two chapters and I'm so happy that it's gone this far, and that I'm almost done with it. I'm starting to lose interest in this story and its better if I finish this soon then for it grow stale. Next chapter might be longer but the last chapter will be the longest in the whole story. I'll try to have the next chapter up be Wednsday, but if I can't then I'll have it up by next weekened.

* * *

**Chapter 12: The Traitor**

Gerald gritted his teeth as he left the lab, the door shutting closed behind him. He walked down the hall, his mind racing. He couldn't believe what he had to do. He never thought that he would have to take such drastic measures, but after what the agent from G.U.N. who visited the week before warned him to either control Shadow or get rid of him he couldn't risk the Project being shut down. He knew Maria wouldn't be happy with his decision, but what was he to do?

He was making his way to the cafeteria for lunch, where he was sure to see his granddaughter and then tell her that she couldn't hang around with Shadow anymore for a while. It broke his heart to have had to lock Shadow away and to prevent Maria from having too much contact with him, but he knew that Shadow was meant as a playmate for Maria.

He reached the cafeteria and just as he stepped toward the door, he heard somebody call out to him from down the hall and his heart skipped a beat when he turned to see Maria running up to him, a big smile on her face with Anthony following behind her.

"Hi grandpa." she greeted when she came to a complete stop in front of him, panting.

"Hi Professor Robotnik." Anthony greeted as he slowed down and walked up right next to Maria.

"Hello children." Gerald chuckled as Maria looked behind him. She frowned and looked up to him.

"Where's Shadow?" she asked. Gerald frowned and shook his head.

"I'm sorry Maria, but I had to lock Shadow away."

"Why?" Maria asked, giving him a confused look, glancing quickly to Anthony.

"Maria my dear, it's necessary if we want to keep Shadow alive. This will only be temporary."

Maria looked up to her grandfather, tears starting to well up in her eyes. "But he's not dangerous! He's never hurt anybody!"

"Maria, Shadow is much more dangerous than you think he is." Gerald told her, pushing her away gently and patting her head, smiling sadly. Maria stared at him with wide eyes. "An agent from G.U.N. came last week and warned me that if Project Shadow isn't controlled or destroyed, then they will come and take care of things."

Maria stared at him, balling her hands up into fists. "Why would G.U.N. want you to do that? Weren't they the ones funding Project Shadow? Now they're the ones who want to destroy him?"

"But how can they know if you shut down the Project or not?" Anthony asked him.

"There is a traitor among us. Somebody told G.U.N. that Shadow is dangerous, and it's true he is and the evidence is in the recent tests I've run on him. He's completely matured, he's grown. He's in the state he was allowed to mature in the lab. Maria, calm down. This is only temporary all this will be sorted out soon. And once that happens everything will be back to normal. I promise." Gerald smiled at her.

"Can I see him?" Maria suddenly asked, catching Gerald slightly by surprise.

"What?"

"Can I see him?" she repeated. "I can still see him, can't I?"

"I'll have to think about it, but for now let's eat." Gerald sighed, and led Maria and Anthony into the cafeteria.

**XxXxXxXxXxX**

It was nighttime now (Anthony could tell from the time on the clock that it was eight p.m. now) and Maria had spent most of the day in the Viewing Room with Anthony, who wouldn't leave her side. She was upset, no more than upset, she was depressed. She hated the fact that she wouldn't be able to see Shadow anymore for some time, and Anthony hated seeing her so upset.

So when it came time for Maria to go back to her room, Anthony didn't walk her back like he always did but instead went directly to the lab having decided that he would try to convince Gerald to at least let Maria visit Shadow. He didn't understand why G.U.N. would demand such a thing to Gerald. So far Shadow hadn't done anything wrong and it seemed like he was in total control of his abilities.

He eventually broke out into a sprint, avoiding a few people who were walking in the hallways and when he finally reached the lab he stopped in front of the door and took a moment to catch his breath. He glanced over to the keypad next to the door and frowned when he saw the red light blinking on it, signaling that the door was locked. He looked up at the door and got an idea when he saw the small window on the door. He stood on his toes and pulled himself up on the small ledge on the window and peeked inside. It was dark; with only the light from the window illuminating the room and he could see an outline at the far side of the room near the window and it took him a minute to realize that it was Calvin. The man was apparently speaking to somebody over the phone, and Anthony could actually hear what he was saying. He knew it was wrong to eavesdrop on somebody, but there was something about the conversation that caught his attention.

"Yes, yes I will keep you reported on Project Shadow's status. For now that idiot scientist has him locked away in isolation." Calvin said. He didn't speak for a few seconds, but Anthony could hear somebody speaking on the other line.

"Yes, I will take care of all of that, don't worry they won't know that it was me. Just make sure that you come as soon as possible and don't give an advanced warning."

Again Calvin was silent and Anthony thought that he had hung up but soon he spoke up again.

"Why am I doing this? Well I never supported Gerald's Project; in fact I think it's immoral to work on such a thing. There are so many doctors down on Earth, who can figure out a cure for the girl, and yet he creates an abomination that is supposed to cure her and be the Ultimate Life form. I don't understand how that monster is supposed to help cure Maria Robotnik. He's created of alien DNA and-" Calvin cut off and Anthony could hear the person on the other line shouting.

"Alright, I understand. I will try to leave this floating hunk of metal as soon as possible before the Special Forces come here…in fact when _are _the Special Forces coming?"

Anthony pushed away from the door and took a few steps back. So Calvin was the one who tipped G.U.N. off. He should have known. Without another thought he sprinted back down the hall he had come from. He needed to go tell Maria, and he especially needed to go warn Gerald. He was half-way to Maria's room when he bumped into somebody, the person he had bumped into trying to grip the wall to keep balance as Anthony fell on his knees. The boy quickly got up, apologizing to the person and it was only when he turned to see who it was he bumped into he saw Gerald leaning against the wall, staring at Anthony with a concerned look.

"Anthony, what are you running from?" Gerald asked him. As soon as Gerald asked him words just flowed out of Anthony's mouth, and he didn't even know what he was saying. The words just kept leaving his mouth. Eventually Gerald placed a hand on his shoulder and tried calming him down. "Boy, calm down. You're going to bite your tongue. Now speak slowly and tell me what happened."

Anthony took deep breaths, looking up to Gerald, his eyes furrowed.

"G-G.U.N. is coming soon to the ARK; they're sending the Special Forces." Anthony blurted out. Gerald frowned and stared at him, giving him a serious look.

"Anthony, what are you talking about?

"I went to the lab to look for you, and instead I saw Calvin in there and he was talking through the phone. He's the one who tipped G.U.N. off that Shadow's too dangerous. And he was talking to somebody about G.U.N.'s Special Forces coming to the ARK and that before they come he's leaving as soon as he can."

"Oh really?" Gerald asked, his face growing red. "Thank you for telling me this, Anthony." he said, trying to keep as calm as possible despite being furious that Calvin would do such a thing.

"Professor?" Anthony began hesitantly.

"Yes?"

"I want to ask you if you can at least let Maria see Shadow. He means a lot to her, and I don't like seeing her so upset."

Gerald stared at Anthony for a minute before nodding.

"Alright, I'll see what I can do. She can spend time with him but with guard supervision."

Anthony sighed in relief and smiled. Gerald however, turned around and began walking toward the lab.

"Now excuse me Anthony, I have to go have a serious talk with Calvin."


	13. Valentine's Day

**A/N:** What's this? I'm updating early again? _This _soon? Madness I say! Lol ^^ I just updated this afternoon.

This is the next to last chapter, next chapter loose ends are probably going to be tied and you can guess already what's going to happen next chapter right? It's really no secret and shouldn't come as a surprise. The last chapter will be up sometime between Monday and next Friday.

And so sorry for the shortness, but I didn't have many ideas and I had nothing else to do this afternoon after I updated so...here it is. All short and stuff.

* * *

**Chapter 13: Valentine's Day**

Maria sighed as she pressed her cheek against the cool glass, closing her eyes as her grandfather typed something feverishly into the computer. She opened her eyes again; pushing away from the bullet-proof glass wall and stared at Shadow, who was sitting as bored as could be on a bench in the cell. Anthony stood next to her, looking just as bored as Shadow was.

"Can't he hear us?" Maria asked him.

"No, he can't." Gerald replied, glancing over to Maria who groaned. He finished typing in the computer and a pop-up appeared on the screen, the words: '_Enter Access Code:_' _in green letters. Gerald grumbled something about the IT being paranoid, and when he entered in the access code the glass door separating them from Shadow slide open with a hiss. Maria squealed, jumping up and down before running into Shadow's cell and immediately tackled Shadow, pushing him off the bench and onto the floor.

"Whoa," Anthony's eyes widened as such a display of affection and he looked over to Gerald who was smiling.

"Ow!" Shadow yelped as Maria helped him up, hugging him afterwards, and smiling up at her grandfather.

"Thank you, thank you, _Thank you!" _she squealed and Gerald chuckled.

"You're welcome my dear, but do keep in mind that you will be under guard supervision. They will be standing outside, so do not try to leave the room. You will visit Shadow for an hour maximum every morning and every evening until this problem is all sorted out." Gerald said before walking over to the door and leaving the room. Once he was out, Maria turned to Anthony, grinning from ear to ear as she thanked him as well.

"Thank you for convincing my grandpa to let me see Shadow, but I thought you didn't like him?"

"Ah…um…" Anthony blushed and cleared his throat, thinking of anything to change the subject. "So what happened to Calvin?" he asked her. Now why was that the first thing to pop into his mind?

"He was locked up in a jail cell in the basement. He was arrested for treason and espionage." Maria said, her brow furrowed as she spoke.

"Are they just going to leave him down there?"

"I don't really care anymore Anthony." Maria looked up to meet Anthony's gaze, the latter holding up his hands.

"I was just asking."

"So it was Calvin, huh?" Shadow asked, still looking rather bored.

"Yeah, he was the one who told G.U.N. about you." Maria answered.

"Should have known." Shadow mumbled.

"He won't cause us much trouble anymore, and grandpa is trying to reach a deal with G.U.N. so that Shadow can be let out. Everything will be back to normal soon."

"Right, normal." Anthony frowned. But nothing would be back to normal, not until G.U.N. would back off.

* * *

It was Valentine's Day now. Maria was visiting Shadow that morning, and had brought along some cupcakes for them to eat. She didn't see Anthony at all that morning so there was no way she could offer him a cupcake or two.

"Maria, why is Valentine's Day so important?" Shadow asked her as he took a chocolate cupcake topped with bright pink icing and heart shaped sprinkles from the plate Maria had brought with her. He took a bite out of it as Maria picked a vanilla one, taking a big bite out of it.

"Cwan hu hwate?" she said, still chewing on her cupcake.

"What?"

Maria swallowed what she had in her mouth and smiled at him. "Never mind." she said, unwrapping her cupcake a little. "Valentine's Day isn't important; it's just a day to celebrate with those you love."

"But why would there be just one day to celebrate those you love? Why can't you just spend time with those you love every day?"

Maria sighed and shrugged. "You can do that, but people love celebrating Valentine's Day, and that's the day when they show that they really love somebody." she said. Just as she said that somebody walked in through the door and into the room, and they both looked up to see Anthony standing there looking rather nervous.

"Hey Anthony," Maria greeted him and Anthony smiled at her.

"Hi Maria."

Maria turned back to look at Shadow who had his full attention on Anthony who was still standing at the doorway. Maria turned to look at Anthony again and frowned.

"Is something wrong?" she asked. Anthony cleared his throat and opened his mouth, but before he could say anything Gerald walked into the room.

"Alright Maria, you have to leave Shadow now." Gerald said as he walked over to the computer.

"Awww, why?" Maria whined as she stood up. Gerald sighed as he began typing away on the computer.

"Because the hour is up, you can see him again this evening." he replied, looking over to Shadow. He frowned and turned back to look at what he was doing.

"I'm sorry Shadow." he said softly. "Go back into the cell."

Shadow turned to Maria and his ears dropped as he reluctantly turned around to walk into the cell again, but before he went Maria stopped him.

"Shadow,"

Shadow turned to look at her as she picked up the plate of cupcakes and handed it over to him. He took it in his hands and eyed the cupcakes before looking back up to Maria, giving her a questioning look.

"Happy Valentine's Day." she whispered before turning and leaving the room. Anthony followed after her, not saying a word as they walked out of the door and past the two guards standing outside. Maria didn't even look at Anthony as she began making her way to her room, starting to pick up her pace as she walked. Anthony tried keeping up with her before calling out to her.

"Maria,"

Maria stopped and turned around.

"What?"

"What's wrong?" he asked her and Maria sighed.

"I hate what's happening to Shadow right now." she replied, her voice cracking a little at the end. Anthony smiled sadly at her, before turning around and glancing over his shoulder as he walked away.

"Come on, I want to show you something."

* * *

"Why did you bring me here?" Maria asked as she followed Anthony into the Viewing Room. They both walked up to the large window and Maria stared out toward Earth, frowning before turning around. "_Why _did you bring me here? I don't want to be reminded that I can't be with my family today. You know that I miss them and making me see Earth on the day of love?"

Anthony only smiled at her, which confused and surprised Maria.

"Why are you smiling?"

Anthony reached into his pocket and pulled out a bright pink card with a heart on it. He gave it to her and Maria hesitantly took it.

"Happy Valentine's Day, Maria."

Maria stared down at the card and opened it. In the inside were the words 'Happy Valentine's Day' as well as something written on the bottom.

"I love spending time with you, and I hope I get to be with you forever." she read out loud. Maria smiled and looked back up to see Anthony blushing now, rubbing the back of his neck as he chuckled nervously.

"Aww, that's so sweet of you."

"I…well…yeah…." Anthony chuckled nervously and was surprised when Maria leaned over and pressed her lips against his cheek, kissing him. He could feel his face burn as he blushed even more.

"Happy Valentine's Day, Anthony."


	14. Earth

**Author's Note is at the end this time.  
**

* * *

**Chapter 14: Earth**

It was nearing the end of February now, almost everything was back to normal. Except Shadow was still kept in isolation, but Gerald was still working on getting things sorted out with G.U.N.

So far he had been told that he needed to provide evidence that Shadow was not an immediate danger to anybody, and had placed those who worked on Project Shadow with him to work to find the tests results dating back to when Shadow was first awakened. They had been at it for an hour already, sorting out test results and reports. Everybody talked among themselves as they worked. They were peacefully working until they suddenly heard loud banging at the door, and everybody stopped and looked at each other.

"This is G.U.N.'s Special Forces Unit! We have a warrant for Gerald Robotnik's arrest, as well as the arrest of his accomplices." a man shouted as he banged on the door even more. Gerald turned to look at everybody who stared back at him wide-eyed. What was the Special Forces Unit doing in the ARK?

Before Gerald could say anything though, the door burst open and a few of the Special Forces agents rushed in. One ran over to him and slammed him against a wall, ignoring the old man's groan of pain.

"What is this?" Gerald shouted. He could feel the G.U.N. agent behind him binding his hands together with cuffs and he glanced over his shoulder to see that everybody else was being handcuffed as well. His eyes stopped on Miracle who was cursing at the G.U.N. agent handcuffing her. The woman stopped struggling eventually and looked over to Gerald with pleading eyes. Gerald looked away as the agent began walking him toward the door.

"You're under arrest for not compiling with the demands of G.U.N.." the agent informed him and Gerald glanced over his shoulder to look at him angrily.

"What do you mean I didn't comply with G.U.N.'s commands?! Project Shadow is being controlled!" Gerald shouted as he was dragged into the hallway. "This has to be a misunderstanding!"

"There is no misunderstanding. Project Shadow was ordered destroyed, not controlled."

"_What?!"_Gerald shouted furiously, his face as red as a tomato. "I was told that he had to be controlled or risk being destroyed!"

"Then there was a misunderstanding in your part, or a lack of proper communication. Project Shadow was ordered destroyed, not controlled."

Gerald gritted his teeth. He was told to either control Shadow or cease the Project, not that he was required to destroy him!

He was led along with the other scientists down the hall, eventually realizing that he was being led to the loading docks. G.U.N.'s fleet ships were probably down there. They continued down the halls until they reached the sleeping quarters where everybody's rooms were and just as they started passing down all the rooms he saw two people walking down the hall, chatting casually. One stopped and looked back as they approached, and Gerald realized with horror that it was Maria and Anthony. Maria frowned as she stood in the middle of the hall, obviously confused at seeing her grandfather arrested with G.U.N. agents escorting him.

"Maria, Anthony get out of here!" Gerald shouted. Anthony. "Go get Shadow!"

Maria turned to Anthony who pulled her. "Come on, we can't stay here." Anthony said before the two broke out into a sprint.

"What?" the agent who was pushing Gerald along hissed. The agent dug into his pocket and pulled out a walkie-talkie and spoke into it. "Can anybody hear me?"

"_Yes, I can hear you loud and clear." _somebody replied on the other end.

"There are two children running around these hallways, they will lead you to the Project."

Gerald felt his face go pale. What had he done?

* * *

"Maria, how are we supposed to unlock Shadow from the cell?" Anthony asked her as they sprinted down the hall.

"I know the code." she called back.

"What?"

"I watched my grandpa type in the code last time and I memorized it, we just need to get Shadow out and to the lab."

Maria stopped suddenly when she saw somebody familiar running up the hall. Anthony tried to stop in time before bumping into her but failed. He bumped into her and Maria instinctively reached out for the railing in the hallway, holding onto it to keep her balance.

"Dad?" Anthony looked up to the man who was now walking toward them, no longer running. The man looked almost exactly like Anthony with brown hair but his eyes were green. He was dressed in a G.U.N. guard uniform, the logo stitched into his sleeve.

"Anthony, Maria." the man said relieved as he tried to catch his breath. He then reached over and took Anthony's wrist. "Come on, I'll take you two somewhere safe. They're looking for both of you."

"Us?" Anthony looked over to Maria frantically.

"Son, there's no time. We need to go. Maria, come on let's go." the man turned to look at Maria who took a few step backwards, shaking her head.

"No, I'm not going."

"What do you mean…? Maria, come on we have to go. Just leave Shadow." Anthony stared at Maria with a pleading look.

"No I won't." Maria took a few more steps back before turning around and continuing her sprint down the hall. She didn't look back as Anthony called out to her. She would see him again soon, she just needed to go get Shadow.

"Maria!" Anthony shouted to the top of his lungs. It was only when Maria reached the end of the hall did she turned around to see that Anthony was being dragged down the other end of the hall by his father, Anthony trying to wriggle out of his father's grip, his hand extended out toward her.

She felt her eyes sting as her eyes began watering up, but she turned around and continued down the hall. It felt like an eternity before she finally reached the room Shadow was isolated in. Fortunately for her there were no guards and the keypad next to the room had a green light blinking over it, indicating that it was open.

Sighing in relief, she opened the door and closed it, looking over to Shadow who was sitting on the bench. The hedgehog stood up from where he was sitting as Maria rushed over to the computer, quickly typing in the access code and when the computer confirmed it, the door to Shadow's cell open and the hedgehog immediately ran out of it.

"Maria, what's wrong?" he asked her. Maria rushed over to him and got a hold of his wrist.

"Shadow, G.U.N. is back," Shadow stared at her wide-eyed.

"What?"

"G.U.N. is back and they're looking for you. They've arrested my grandfather and many other scientists, and they've come for you." Maria explained as she dragged him over to the door.

"Maria, why'd you come get me?" Shadow asked her as they walked out of the room and into the hall.

"Grandpa told me to come get you."

"And where are you going to take me?" Shadow asked her.

"The lab, we can take an escape pod to Earth."

"Earth?" Shadow repeated. Earth, he was finally going to go to Earth!

"Stop right there!" somebody shouted behind them. They both looked over their shoulders to see a few G.U.N. agents following after them, guns in hand. Before Maria could react, Shadow grabbed her wrist, wriggling out of her grasp and began running down the hall, dragging her along.

"Shadow! Wait!" she shouted.

"We got to get to the lab!" Shadow yelled back, glancing over his shoulder to see that the agents were in hot pursuit.

They ran down the hall, running around a few corners in hopes that they would lose the agents following after them, unfortunately they couldn't. When they finally reached the lab, Shadow quickly punched in the code on the keypad next to the door and the door opened automatically. They both ran inside and once the door closed behind them, Shadow punched in the code to lock the door as Maria ran over to the control center. Once Shadow had locked the door, he ran over to Maria who started typing some things into the control center.

"How did you figure out the code?" Maria asked him casually as she typed feverishly into the control center's keyboard.

"Is that really important right now?" Shadow asked her. Maria smiled at him, jumping up when she heard a bang at the door.

"Open up! It's the G.U.N. Special Forces Unit. If you do not open this door we will be forced to kick this door down!"

Maria looked up to Shadow, and she felt her face grow pale at the thought of them catching her best friend. She could hear them banging on the door and she immediately knew that they both couldn't get out of there. Shadow turned to her as he walked up to one of the capsules in the lab and looked out the window to see Earth in the distance.

Sighing, she quickly finished what she was doing and the door to one of the capsules opened.

"Shadow get in it." she said, keeping her voice low. Shadow turned to look at her, giving her a confused look before stepping into the capsule.

"You're coming with me right?" he asked her. Maria forced herself to smile and nodded, knowing all too well that no, she would not be going with him back to Earth. She walked over to the capsule, and undid the chain around her neck before handing it over to Shadow who took it.

"This is the necklace Miracle gave you for your birthday."

"I know." Maria rushed back over to the control panel. "I want you to keep it." she said before pressing a button. The door to the capsule closed, locking Shadow in it. Shadow's eyes widened and he began pounding on the glass.

"Maria what are you doing?!" he shouted frantically. The agents outside continued banging on the door and shouting at Maria to open the door.

"Shadow, I want you to go to Earth without me." she said, avoiding eye contact.

"B-But why?"

"You were created to help cure me and be the Ultimate Life form. But what good is it to find a cure for my illness if I might die in the next four years? A cure wouldn't be found by the then; it will take years, possibly decades to finally find a cure for me. I'm not important, I can't help make people's lives better but you…." she trailed off, flinching as the door was slammed with great force.

"Maria, don't do this." Shadow begged. Maria looked up and smiled sadly at him.

"Shadow, you can make people's lives better. I _want _you to make people's lives better, and I want you to be happy. You're the Ultimate Life form, and you have a far greater purpose than I ever will."

"But I'm happy with you! With Gerald, and…and Anthony. I want everything to be the way it's always been!" Shadow shouted.

Maria looked down and held onto the lever, the one that would release the capsule into space.

"Shadow, you're like a little brother to me and I want you to be happy down on Earth, for me, please? I won't always be around." Maria said and just as she said that the door to the lab burst open and a few agents rushed into the room. Maria turned to them, and then turned back to Shadow who by then had tears rolling down his cheeks.

"Maria!"

"Step away!" one of the agents ordered. Maria ignored him and tried pulling the lever down but it seemed to be stuck in place from years of not being used. She continued trying, wrapping both her hands around it and pulling it down. "I said to step away!" the same agent shouted furiously. Maria shook her head, concentrating on trying to pull the lever down.

When she finally got it to budge, a shot rang out in the room and her eyes widened as pain exploded in her back. She stared at Shadow, tears welling up in her eyes.

"_Maria!" _Shadow screamed as he pounded desperately on the glass.

Maria bit her lip. It hurt so much! She could feel something, her blood begin to seep through her dress. Her knees buckled and she held onto the control panel with one hand, using her other hand to continue pulling the lever down. Finally she let it go all the way through, smiling at Shadow as she began feeling lightheaded. She was losing so much blood, she could feel it.

"Remember what I told you, Shadow. Be happy…." was the last thing she told him before the capsule dropped down into the floor. Shadow continued to pound on the glass, and Maria watched as the capsule left the ARK and began descending down to Earth. The agents began rushing towards her and she heard one shout furiously to another: "You shot a child!"

Maria watched as the capsule continued to descend until it was nothing but a sparkle in the distance. Resting her full weight on the control panel, she took deep breaths as beads of sweat began rolling down her forehead. She smiled once last time as she stared at Earth in the distance and then closed her eyes.

"Sayonara Shadow the Hedgehog…."

* * *

It had been a week since the incident in the ARK. One week, but it felt like it had happened yesterday. Gerald pressed his back against the wall, staring at nothing in particular. The memory of what had happened on the ARK replayed in his mind over and over again, and the news of Maria's death haunted him. If he hadn't told her to go run off to find Shadow….

No, it wasn't his fault. It was Calvin's and G.U.N.'s. It was people's mind sets, weapons didn't kill people, people killed people.

His eyes stung and he took a deep breath, trying not to let the guards outside of his jail cell see that he was crying. He had to be strong at a moment like this. But how could he be strong when the light of his life had died? He would never see his granddaughter again. It wasn't Shadow's fault, Shadow was innocent.

Those he knew on the ARK had to be somewhere in the prison, wrongly imprisoned however just because they had a part in Shadow's creation. They didn't know that Shadow was created with alien DNA, only he and Calvin were the ones to know such information. He was a fool to have trusted him.

Everybody who had been arrested on the ARK were questioned, those who had absolutely nothing to do with Project Shadow were released. He had heard from Maria's parents, his daughter-in-law hated him, his grandson didn't know his sister was dead yet from what he heard, and his son visited him the day before but only to tell him in his face that he hated him for what had happened to Maria. His family had abandoned him, deemed him 'The Mad Scientist'. He had been disowned.

He sat in his cell, and eventually somebody walked up to it. Gerald looked up and he sneered at the man standing on the other side of the bars.

"What are you doing here Calvin?"

Calvin smirked at him. "Good to see you too professor."

Gerald looked away from him, not even bothering to waste his time with such a waste of human life. He had found out that Calvin was let go when the ARK was raided and was under protection of G.U.N. as a witness for his upcoming trial.

"Shadow's been found."

Gerald looked back to Calvin, relieved to have heard such news but he didn't want Calvin to know that.

"Oh really?" he said coolly.

"Yes, you have been granted permission so that you may see him later. He is in a coma, he hasn't woken up yet. Your job however is to program him so that he won't _ever_ wake up."

Gerald frowned and glared at the man. Shadow wasn't just a computer to 'reprogram' as he wished, but he suddenly got an idea. He would get revenge on all who wronged him.

"When will I be able to see him?" Gerald asked.

"Soon, very soon." and with that Calvin left, leaving Gerald alone.

Gerald sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. How could have everything gone so wrong so quickly?

Tears stung his eyes again and this time he allowed himself the luxury of crying, and he sobbed alone in the dark.

* * *

_Fifty-two Years Later_

"Come on Shadow, I don't have all day." Rouge said, annoyance lacing her tone. She walked up next to the hedgehog and followed his gaze. "I'm sorry about what happened to your friend, and I even offered to come and pay her respect with you. But it's been an hour and I have a hot date with Knucklehead in thirty-minutes."

Shadow gave her a side-glance and frowned.

"Then go. I don't need your pity."

Rouge frowned and put her hands on her hips. "It's not pity, I'm genuinely sorry about what happened to Maria. But we need to go, you can't stay here all day. It's not healthy to be so obsessive over something." she said before turning around and walking away. "I'll wait for you at the gates."

Shadow didn't reply, still staring at the tombstone in front of him. He had seen the words many times before and he still couldn't believe that she was actually there, but at the same time she wasn't.

_Here Lies our Angel,_

Maria Robotnik

Who Died at the Age of 12

_May She Always be Remembered_

Shadow held up his hand and looked down at the necklace Maria had given him the day of the incident. He was surprised he still even had it.

He then looked up and stared at Maria's tombstone for a few minutes more, mindful of the fact that his friend was buried six feet underneath him. With a sigh he placed a pink rose he at the base of the tombstone and turned around. He wanted to say a few words but decided not to, he didn't want to bring back painful memories.

He walked to the cemetery's entrance where Rouge was waiting, not even glancing back to look at Maria's tombstone to see a few petals from the rose fly away with the breeze.

_**The End**_

* * *

**A/N: **Ah, the last chapter. I'm so happy that this story came this far. I would love to thank everybody for their support while I was writing this.

So this didn't turn out as long as I hoped it would, but it's still longer than the past few chapters. The pink rose if I remember correctly (or I probably don't :p), means affection, love, something like that. I have to look up the meaning again. I couldn't put in a red rose because red roses means passion, etc…. This chapter was the easiest to write, the words just poured out and I'm happy about the way this last chapter turned out. I gots a lot to say so I'm just going to list off everything:

**1) Anthony's Name. **I know the G.U.N commander's name is Abraham in the comics, I've already been told by people before. But I don't read the comics; I'm not even slightly interested in reading the comics because I just don't like them. To me they're just well…there. I follow the Sonic game universe not the Sonic comic universe, so there was no way I could have known.

**2) Thanks. **I'd love to thank everybody who has ever reviewed, alerted, and even added this story to their favorites. **It means so much! :D And I'd also love to thank everybody who stuck until the very end :)**

**3) The last few chapters. **I'm so sorry that the last few chapters were so short, but I was starting to lose motivation for this and I had to end this story before it got bad, and I mean really bad. It's not good when I don't have enough inspiration or desire to continue writing a story; the chapters really turn out crappy. The reason I lost motivation near the end is because I'm re-writing another story of mine and I've gotten really into it. That story is my new baby and I want to focus on it as much as possible. Sorry again :(

**4) Why did I begin neglecting this story? **Well,_ I_ felt like I was starting to neglect it. My mind has been _REALLY _occupied on my latest obsession. I haven't been deep into the Sonic fandom for a _long _time. I've been busy as well and preparing for my return to school this Wednesday. There's also the fact that I've been nerding all over the place and getting excited to know that Assassin's Creed 3's release date is getting closer. That game shall be my belated birthday gift to myself :3

**5) You would have been horribly confused if I had done this. **For the last part I was thinking of including a few characters from my other Sonic story, but I decided against it. It wouldn't have worked out well. Most specifically I wanted to add Shadow's son (I wrote one of those overused stories…you know the type with babies and stuff. Yeah, I'm not proud of that), for those curious I had named him Dusk and I last left him off as a cute little newborn. Yeah, I'm never going back to writing such stories again.

**6) **Um…I've run out of stuff to say lol

So again I would love to thank everybody for reading this story, **it really means a lot!** Oh, and now that I remember, I picked up this story again because I needed to get my creative juices flowing. Well it worked, and thanks to this story I got over the major writer's block I had back when I first posted this story and my creative juices started flowing again earlier this month, which was why it took forever to post chapters because I was re-writing the story I mentioned. So this story helped me _**a lot**_ :).

So now I will be leaving, I don't know if I'll return to the Sonic fandom (really, all my interest has been lost in it already. I used to obsess over everything Sonic), though I doubt I will return. So this might be my last story in this fandom. So bye, and thanks again to everybody!

~DuskyNights


End file.
